Broadway Strike FAQ

[AvenueQPat]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 12:35pm

Hi All! I have kept quiet because I don't know all of the details (nor do many people on here I assume) so I put together a list of the questions I have read often on this site, as well as some information. Thought this would be a good place to put together thoughts on the issues as opposed to going through 15 different posts all the time. Comments welcome, flames expected, so here goes.

1) What Shows Are Closed?
August: Osage County at the Imperial Theatre
Avenue Q at the Golden Theatre
A Bronx Tale at the Walter Kerr Theatre
Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre
A Chorus Line at the Schoenfeld Theatre
The Color Purple at the Broadway Theatre
Curtains at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre
Cyrano de Bergerac at the Richard Rodgers Theatre
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the St. James Theatre
The Drowsy Chaperone at the Marquis Theatre
Duran Duran at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Farnsworth Invention at the Music Box Theatre
Grease at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
Hairspray at the Neil Simon Theatre
Is He Dead? at the Lyceum Theatre
Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theatre
Legally Blonde at the Palace Theatre
Les Misérables at the Broadhurst Theatre
The Lion King at the Minskoff Theatre
The Little Mermaid at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Mamma Mia! at the Winter Garden Theatre
Monty Python's Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre
The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre
Rent at the Nederlander Theatre
Rock 'n' Roll at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
The Seafarer at the Booth Theatre
Spring Awakening at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre

2) What Broadway Shows are Open?
Cymbeline at 3 PM at the Vivian Beaumont Theater
Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theatre
Mauritius at the Biltmore Theatre
Pygmalion at the American Airlines Theatre
The Ritz at Studio 54
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Circle in the Square
Xanadu at the Helen Hayes Theatre
Young Frankenstein at the Hilton Theatre

3) Are any other Shows Affected?
At this time, no other shows are affected. Off-Broadway performances, touring productions, and all other shows not listed above are still playing.

4) How do I get a refund?
• Tickets purchased with a credit card via Telecharge.com (by phone or on the internet) "will be automatically credited within two business days."
• Tickets purchased with a credit via Ticketmaster.com (by phone or on the internet) will "automatically be credited with the ticket price and convenience charges, and should post to your account within 7 to 10 business days." The $3.10 processing fee and any ticketFast or UPS delivery charges are non-refundable.
• Tickets purchased at the box office by credit card "will be automatically credited within 2 to 10 business days."
• Those who purchased tickets at a theatre's box office with cash or by check should return to the box office for a refund.
If the theatre's box office is closed, a refund may be obtained by mail. For refunds to August: Osage County, Avenue Q, A Bronx Tale, Chicago, A Chorus Line, The Color Purple, Curtains, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Duran Duran, The Farnsworth Invention, Is He Dead?, Jersey Boys, Les Misérables, Mamma Mia!, Monty Python's Spamalot, The Phantom of the Opera, Rock 'n' Roll, The Seafarer and Spring Awakening, mail the ticket to Telecharge.com, 411 Hackensack Avenue, Hackensack, NJ, 07601.
For refunds to Cyrano de Bergerac, The Drowsy Chaperone, Grease, Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Rent and Wicked, mail the ticket to Nederlander Organization, 1450 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
• Tickets purchased at the Broadway Ticket Center (1560 Broadway, between 46th and 47th Streets) should be returned to the Center for a refund or exchange.
• Those who purchased tickets on-line through Theatre Development Fund (tdf.org) will also be refunded: the ticket price will be credited to your credit card. Those who purchased tickets by mail through TDF will receive a refund check from TDF.
If tickets were purchased elsewhere, the League advises ticket holders to return to or contact the point of purchase. It is also advisable to retain a photocopy of the tickets.
https://www.playbill.com/news/article/112684.html

5) Who is the dispute between?
Broadway Producers (The League of American Theatre’s and Producers as well as The Nederlander Organization) and the Stagehands (IATSE Local 1).

6) Is this a strike or a lock-out? Whose fault is it that I can’t see my favorite Broadway Show?
This is a strike by the stagehands. Neither side is at fault. The simple fact of the matter is that theatre is a business. The producers and the unions (IATSE, AFM – Musicians, AEA – Actors) negotiate contracts every 3 or 4 years. It is not a surprise for either party – at this time neither side has agreed to the others terms. Its business – plain and simple.

WARNING
The following information is only based on what has been published through performing arts websites and publications. THIS IS NOT THE COMPLETE STORY! Nobody knows what the complete story is unless they have been sitting at the negotiating table since Day 1.

7) What do the producers want?
The main sticking point according to the producers is as follows –
“The core of this dispute is not about wages. Local One stagehands will continue to be the best paid in the world. It is not about benefits, but it is about fairness. We think it is fair to be able to hire the workers we need and to pay them for the work they do. We think it is not fair to have to hire workers we don’t need and pay them for doing nothing. No industry can continue to tolerate such featherbedding. Certainly not ours, where four out of five productions are financial failures.” - https://www.livebroadway.com/
Basically – the current rules that the union has in place requires a certain number of stage hands for each production. This includes both load-in of the production (where a show enters a new theatre and all of the set pieces need to be brought in, the lights need to be hung, etc.) as well as performances (Calling light and sound cues, running lights, running the fly system, etc.) The union says that they are happy to pay more money to people that they have working for them. Also, they would like to make sure that they are getting the most out of their money. For example –
Shubert Organization president Phil Smith said that producers "want the right to be able to assign the employees to their work and reassign them when there is no work. We're not looking to fire them or get rid of them. We want to reassign them. The flyman is an easy example because if there's no work for them on the fly floor, as we've all said, they'll be reassigned something on the stage deck." https://www.playbill.com/news/article/112689.html

What do the stagehands want?
The main thing that the stagehands want are “Fair Wages for Work Performed” as well as making sure that their current minimums which they say are designed for safety and smooth operations will stay intact.
The producers' releases have celebrated an offer of 16.5% increase in wages, but what the producers failed to mention in any of their public relations materials is that their offer was accompanied by a 38% cut in jobs and income. - https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=22914
The simple fact is that the stage hands need to be well trained to do what they do, and a number of their jobs involve the safety of the actors as well as the audience in the theatre. They say that they want to be compensated for the work that they do and the knowledge that they have, and continue to have the number of staff that they feel are needed to ensure smooth and safe operations.


This information covers the basics of what is going on right now. I have chosen to leave out my personal opinions, and suggest that everybody goes to www.iatselocalone.com and www.livebroadway.com and get your own information to make an informed decision (or at least have accurate information from both sides) before discussing the situation on this message board, or anywhere else for that matter. I have tried to keep this as neutral as possible, but I know I will get a flame somewhere down the road about one side not having enough information – AGAIN I URGE YOU TO RESEARCH WHATEVER YOU LIKE AS WELL – just because I wrote this doesn’t mean I am all-knowing it is the information I have read and seen with links to the information where appropriate.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 12:42pm

Broadway.com created a FAQ as well: http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=556310

Updated On: 11/11/07 at 12:42 PM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 11/11/07 at 12:42pm

could you say that again lol