Broadway is now dark, too.

[KK 10-7]

As Stagehands Strike, Shows Don’t Go On

 

 

After a morning of confusion and anxiety during which members of Local One, the stagehands union, met and the producers waited to see what would happen, the stagehands strike has officially begun. Union members are holding picket signs in front of theaters and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the parent union of Local One, issued a statement confirming the walkout.

 

The stagehands took their picket signs to the wet sidewalks around 10 a.m. today, after a meeting of Local One, their union, at the Westin New York on West 43rd Street.

 

The Saturday matinee traffic of tourists and theatergoers was thrown into chaos, with busloads of students sitting unhappily outside of “The Color Purple,” and nervous restaurant workers contemplating a Saturday night with no dinner rush.

 

“Customers may show up but they will be grumpy and won’t tip well,” said Laura Cosentino, as she stood on West 46th Street handing out menus for Rachel’s, a theater district restaurant.

 

Twenty-seven Broadway shows, including “Wicked,” “Jersey Boys” and “The Lion King” were shuttered, starting with “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” which was to raise its curtain at 11 a.m.

 

Only eight shows, which are in theaters on a separate contract with the union, are still running: “Cymbeline,” “Mary Poppins,” “Mauritius,” “Pygmalion,” “The Ritz,” “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “Xanadu” and “Young Frankenstein.”

 

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg released a statement saying: “I had hoped that the theater owners and the stagehands’ union would resolve their differences without a strike. While this is a private labor matter, the economic impact is very public and will be felt far beyond the theaters closed today. It is in everyone’s interest for both sides to come together and resolve their differences. I have spoken to both the theater owners and the stagehands and the city continues to stand ready to help in any way we can.”

 

This is the second strike on Broadway in less than five years; the four-day musician walkout in 2003 was the first in almost three decades. But this is the first time Local One, a 121-year old union, has called a strike on Broadway.

 

Producers have made plans to give refunds to people who have bought tickets to shows that would be canceled. The first show to be shuttered by the walkout is “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical,” which begins performances at 11 a.m.

 

On Thursday, after two long days of negotiating with the League of American Theaters and Producers, the stagehands’ union was given the authority to strike by its parent union, the last step necessary before a strike can be called.

 

A session scheduled for Friday did not take place, and all around Broadway, producers, stagehands and just about everyone else in the industry were buzzing with theories about when or if the stagehands would walk out.

 

Local One officials had been expected to give a few days’ notice before a strike was called, though a note on the union’s Web site said that the parent union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, would advise Local One as to when the strike would begin.

 

The talks, which have been going on since before the union’s contract expired in July, broke down over the issue of work rules.

 

The contract with Local One has strict rules governing how many stagehands must be called to work, what kind of tasks they can perform and how long the work calls can be scheduled. League members say the rules inevitably lead to long periods of time when stagehands are on the clock with nothing to do.

 

The league has been pushing for more flexibility in deciding how many stagehands are needed for work and when they are needed, and they have offered a package of raises in return for that flexibility.

 

James J. Claffey, the president of the union, has said that the stagehands would be willing to make changes to the rules in return for benefits of equal value. But there is no way to tell how much work the stagehands would lose under the rules the producers are proposing, Mr. Claffey said, and so it would be difficult to gauge the value of what the league has been offering in return.

 

It is unclear how long a strike would last. League members have privately speculated that the pressure to get Broadway up and running again would keep the strike from going longer than three or four days. Union officials say that a strike could go for weeks if necessary; Mr. Claffey has already turned down an offer from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to help in the negotiations.

 

By taking a few cents out of every ticket over the past few years, the producers have amassed a $20 million fund to help weather a shutdown by covering fixed costs, like insurance. But for shows that do not have much in the way of advance sales — sales that could be refunded — a strike that went on for more than a few days could be fatal.

 

Local One, which has around 2,200 members, roughly a quarter of whom work on Broadway, has accumulated its own $4.1 million emergency stockpile. The union has set aside an additional $1 million to help members of the other unions that will be out of work during a strike.

 

Union officials also point out that there are more than a thousand non-Broadway jobs in Local One that stagehands can rotate into while they are not working on Broadway, but that rotation system has become more complicated now that the strike by the Writers Guild of America has left Local One members in the television industry without work as well.

 

Kate Hammer contributed reporting.

Article

 

Which shows are cancelled?

 

A Bronx Tale

A Chorus Line

August: Osage County

Avenue Q

Chicago

The Color Purple

Curtains

Cyrano de Bergerac

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Drowsy Chaperone

Duran Duran: Red Carpet Massacre

The Farnsworth Invention

Grease

Hairspray

Is He Dead?

Jersey Boys

Legally Blonde

Les Miserables

The Lion King

The Little Mermaid

Mamma Mia!

The Phantom of the Opera

Rent

Rock 'n' Roll

Spamalot

Spring Awakening

The Seafarer

Wicked

 

Which shows are playing as scheduled?

 

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Cymbeline

Mary Poppins

Mauritius

Pygmalion

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular

The Ritz

Xanadu

Young Frankenstein

 

In addition, all off-Broadway productions are playing as scheduled, including:

 

Altar Boyz, Blue Man Group, Die Mommie Die, The Fantasticks, Forbidden Broadway, Frankenstein, Fuerzabruta, The Glorious Ones, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, Jump, Make Me a Song, Speech & Debate, Stomp and Things We Want.

[CycloneMan]

I heaqrd about this last night at the Grinch. We were seated next to one fo the Make A Wish cordinators and he got a message about it, and then laughed and told us he didn't have to work!

 

-Dainan "Brilliant timing" Rafferty

[Thrill-Pics]

I heaqrd about this last night at the Grinch. We were seated next to one fo the Make A Wish cordinators and he got a message about it, and then laughed and told us he didn't have to work!-Dainan "Brilliant timing" Rafferty

I would spell check before you post! That is what tom told me!

[29yrswithaGApass]

On the news they just said that a resolution hasn't been reached with the strike so no shows through at least Sun Nov 25. That's bad timing with Thanksgiving.

 

 

[KK 10-7]

Show goes on for Grinch musical

The musical is very popular with children The show will go on for Broadway musical Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! after a New York judge ordered it to re-open.

Jujamcyn Theatres decided to shut The Grinch at its St James' theatre until a new labour agreement was reached with striking Broadway stagehands. But this was despite the fact that stagehands employed on The Grinch had agreed to continue working. State Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman said the show should resume. She granted an injunction sought by the show's producers against the shutdown, saying her decision was "for the sake of this city". 'Busy period' "I think that one Grinch in this city is enough," she added. "We got our miracle on 44th Street," said producer James Sanna.

Broadway is considered one of New York's main tourist attractions

Mr Sanna is not a member of The League of American Theatres and Producers, which the stagehands' union Local One are in dispute with. A union spokesman said the stagehands wanted The Grinch to continue so Mr Sanna could avoid financial ruin. Jujamcyn Theatres owns four other theatres which have been affected by the strike. The judge's decision means that 11 Grinch shows over the Thanksgiving weekend - one of Broadway's busiest periods - are going ahead. The show will then continue until the end of its run on 6 January. Stagehands work with lighting, sound, scenery and special effects. The strike began earlier this month after three months of negotiations between producers and a union about pay and working conditions failed to produce an agreement. The dispute has largely been over work rules that govern how many stagehands must be called for work, how long they work, and what kind of tasks they can perform. The League of American Theatres and Producers wants more flexibility in those rules so as to avoid paying for workers who have nothing to do.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7107264.stm