I "went on strike" with Broadway...

My friend and I drove nearly 9 hours to NYC so she could see Hairspray and I could see Jersey Boys (my 3rd attempt to see JLY perform) and once we got there the strike started. It was such a bummer! But of course, we spent a lot of time outside of the theaters anyways with the stagehands and actors because that's what we were there for.

Everyone striking was really nice and I fully support them. The theaters want them to take a 38% job and wage cut and they've been without contract for months. That's not right, especially when Broadway is a billion dollar industry. Once again the wealthiest 1% gets more and more greedy. The theaters let this happen and considering it's the holiday season it's a bad move on their part.

At least I got to spend a lot of time talking to John Lloyd Young! I had met him once before and he remembered me... he's so nice. I feel so bad that he's not going to spend his last few weeks with Jersey Boys performing. I also got to hang out with Lance Bass (who is friends with my sister and I have met him before as well). He's such a sweetheart and I love him! So, I hung around with the cast and crew of both shows for several hours. Everyone seemed to be enjoying eachothers company, visiting with the people across the street. I hope this gets cleared up soon but some people said it could even last until christmas.

I'm glad you got to meet John Lloyd Young. He's an amazingly talented performer and I wish you would have been able to see your show.

However, I am disappointed that you swallowed the 38% propaganda hook,line and sinker. That 38% job cut is not real. That is the inflated percentage of what they think will be taken away if producers only hire the people that they need. Under the current contract, producers have to hire more people and employ them for more hours even if there is no work for them to do. That is inefficient and no way to run a business. It's not that producers are taking jobs away, it's that some of those people aren't needed. For instance, light boards, which used to require three people to operate all the pulls and switches, now only needs one person due to computer technology. However, IATSE is still forcing producers to put three light board ops on the payroll. That is ridiculous!

The unions have been ridiculous and not willing to negotiate seriously, coming back with things in their final offer, for instance, that include mandating fly ops even if a show has no flying scenery! The producers had the choice of enforcing a lock out, darkening Broadway, or to move ahead without a contract in place. They producers have said all along that they are willing to negotiate a fair deal.

I support unions in general, and I am a union member, but I will not support such spoiled tantrums by IATSE which is ruining it for everyone else.

It's interesting to hear the other side of the story, the non-union side, and appreciate the responses. I guess I just think that If theaters are bringing in Millions of dollars each week they can afford to share Big business in general gets more and more money each day while more and more union workers get layed off. If you have a billion dollar industry you can afford to give a lot more money back to those who need it and the shows would go on. Yes, the theaters were willing to work with the union workers, but they obviously were'nt willing to budge too much over the past few months thus causing the strike.

do you know how much it costs to put up a show? It is not a million dollar industry as far as profits are concerned. There are many salaries that need to be paid as well as theater rental, rights to writers and composers a ton of overhead expenses occur each week.
Why isn't their just a min. like there is with Equity and screw the hourly stuff. And if IATSE is going to say that people need to be there for jobs that aren't required then let's do that thru out all the unions. The musician's should say that all sound effects in plays have to be made by live musicians and Equity should say that every musical has to have pit singers or seperate dancing and singing choruses. Hell let's just go crazy and require an understudy or swing for every 2 performers on the stage.

One NYC stagehand is right,

The planning of how many people are needed to do a load in/load out is part of the production team. If the production team does not plan properly then why should the union take damage.


I was part of the Picket Line at the Majestic. Not only were tehy happy that a theatre goer was there. After being there I was being treated like one of the other guys going around exchanging jokes. It was at that moment that I realized one thing. These people are just trying to get food on the table. At the end of the daythat is what any worker is trying to do. And I guess you can say that by doing that then that makes the selfish. But, that is no different then any other person who is working. And very few people made noise out of anger when the taxi drivers went on strike I am supriedthat people want to do that for the local strike. I really feel for these guys. I plan to sto by the Majestic on monday during my lunch break if the striek is going on to see what is going on there.

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"The 16% wage increase is spread out over five years, so once again, in times of plenty on Broadway, wage increases will probably not keep up with inflation. "

How many jobs are keeping up with inflation. My company is in a wage freeze as was my mother's union job that she worked without a contract for over a year. And I still bet that's more than Equity will get in 7 months. Why not go to weekly contracts instead of hourly wages. Wouldn't that make everything easier.

lawyerman,
No one is pretending every show rakes in millions. The fact that the show doesn't make millions, however, is not due to overpaid workers, it's due to bad scripts, boring shows, whatever. I still can't understand how all these shows are losing so much money, yet investers still throw money at them.. Smart investers/producers would only invest money where money can be made. Do i continue to buy stocks in companies that go bankrupt?? NOOOOO, why would producers do that?? You ask why they should invest money in struggling shows?? I don't know, I'm not the investor, ask them, they have the money. Your comment on flying prop mechanisms still baffles me. Are you saying that stagehands tell the producers what equipment to use in their shows?? WOW, if this is the case you have no idea how it works.

The reason why ticket prices are so important is because most of hard working america can't afford to see broadway shows. Might there be a connection between ticket prices and empty seats?? HELLO???? of course.. If i'm a tourist from Germany, and I go to NYC and want to see a broadway show, am I going to spend 100 bucks on a not so popular titled show I know nothing about or will I run to see Phantom, Lion King, Jersey Boys, Wicked?? THe problem is there aren't enough Phantoms, Lion Kings, Wickeds. It's sad that people don't take a leap and see a show they've never heard of, they might find out how great that show is.

"1. why are we pretending that every single show rakes in millions of dollars? the unions are trying to paint the producers as all Disney owning, Wicked running, Jersey Boys producing cash cows. Some are. But some are the producers who struggled to get Spring Awakening on stage and some are the ones who lost a fortune on Company or Grey Gardens... *those* producers are pretty popular around these boards, so why not focus on them- why should they invest money in struggling (in my opinion brilliant) shows, and be paying for flying prop mechanisms that no one is ever going to use?

2. why is it relevant that "we the viewing public" wont see a dime of the money saved? the union folks have been saying that on these boards every other paragraph. so what? is the idea that we, the viewing public, will think "gee, if i dont get the profit, i hope the stagehands can make ridiculous demands, just as long as the big bad producers dont get to save money!"

stage hand are soo quick to say less cost will not mean cheaper ticket prices, maybe the top price will stay the same but more seats would be sold if theaters could be priced lower mid range tickets, based on cost. also how many smaller shows would try to open on broadway if they could at least afford the loadin ...lol

the unions give me mploymentthe money because you the public wont get any saving is not a valid argument for employment