Talks resume 10am Saturday - New York Times

[billynj]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 10:29pm

After a Week, Broadway Talks to Resume Tomorrow
James Estrin/The New York Times
The stagehands’ union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, picketing Thursday on West 44th Street.

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By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
Published: November 16, 2007
Tomorrow, the stagehands’ strike will have reached the one-week mark, and those who make a living on Broadway and in its shadow are still teetering back and forth between fatigue and anxiety.

But tomorrow is a big day. Local 1, the stagehands’ union, and the League of American Theaters and Producers are to sit down for talks at 10 a.m. It will be first round of negotiations since Nov. 8, and the pressure is rising.

Along with the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving week is one of the busiest and most lucrative of the year. In 2006, Broadway did $23.3 million in business that week.

The general sense around Broadway, as producers have been reporting their losses to the league, is that the past week was rough but not disastrous. The loss of another week of shows — and the Thanksgiving week at that — and the loss of another week of paychecks for the people working in the shows is another matter altogether.

For a few shows — like “Wicked,” “Jersey Boys” and “The Lion King” — a dark Thanksgiving week would mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost profits. But those shows have huge advance sales that help ease the blow.

Producers of shows, like “The Drowsy Chaperone,” that have less money in the bank would have to take a serious look at the numbers before deciding to reopen if the strike continues for two weeks or more.

Then there are shows that are strictly limited engagements, like “Cyrano de Bergerac,” which operate on budgets carefully calibrated to the length of the show’s run. Every no-show of “Cyrano” is probably an unrecoverable loss.

With all this at stake, two big hitters are flying in from the West Coast for tomorrow’s meeting. Robert W. Johnson, a top labor relations executive from Disney, which helped arrange this round of negotiations and is respected by officials on both sides, will be sitting with management, though Disney’s theatrical division is not a member of the league.

Thomas C. Short, the president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the parent of Local 1, will be sitting on the labor side of the table.

Most Broadway insiders refused to talk about the situation publicly, either because they were directed to do so by the league or one of the unions, or simply because they didn’t want to jinx the talks.

Meanwhile, the rank and file of Broadway is feeling the crunch. More than 800 actors, from the chorus girl to the Hollywood starlet, saw their salaries this week drop to $405, the strike payment given out by the Actors’ Equity Association. About 350 musicians are receiving loss-of-work pay from their union. Local 1 would not comment on what the 350 or so stagehands on the picket line were being paid, but it is not what they make while working.

There is another, scarier prospect if there is a long strike: the possibility that theatergoers may lose interest in Broadway. The week after the musicians’ strike on Broadway in 2003, which cost the industry an estimated $5 million, grosses on Broadway actually surpassed what they were in the week before the strike. That was a four-day work stoppage, though, and it was in March.

“Everybody in the industry was acutely aware that getting people back into theaters after the musicians’ strike was a key priority,” said Jed Bernstein, the executive director of the league at that time and now a producer. “The habit of Broadway theatergoing for New Yorkers and tourists is not something we wanted anybody to break.”

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Updated On: 11/15/07 at 10:29 PM

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 10:34pm

Good news for everybody!

And it's even better that they're bringing people in from the West Coast to oversee it, so let's hope for the best!

[StageFan2]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:20pm

If they're meeting that early on Saturday - I'll bet they'll try and will probably succeed in reaching an agreement in time for Sunday's afternoon and evening shows.

*dances the Snoopy dance with fingers crossed*

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:26pm

I thought they canceled shows through Tuesday already?

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:28pm

Did they? I hadn't heard that...

[to wherever]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:30pm

If they're meeting that early on Saturday - I'll bet they'll try and will probably succeed in reaching an agreement in time for Sunday's afternoon and evening shows.

*dances the Snoopy dance with fingers crossed*




God, I hope so! I've been hoping for that all week long.

*joins the Snoopy dancing*

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:33pm

I think they're really gonna make an effort this time. Hell, I'll join your little Snoopy dance.

[StageFan2]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:33pm

Oops...I think you're right IdinaBellFoster. Thanks for the reminder/correction. So I repeat my previous thought only substituting 'Tuesday' in the place of 'Sunday'.

*continues happy, hopeful Snoopy dance...with friends, Yay!!*
Updated On: 11/15/07 at 11:33 PM

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:36pm

{Plays happy Snoopy dance music on piano}

[to wherever]

Posted: 11/15/07 at 11:40pm

Well crap. I just read the article that says they've canceled Sunday shows as well.

That was going to be a two show day for me. Suckage.

[Switz78]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 12:58am

Have they cancelled Sunday because last I heard it was thru the 17th. I guarantee the strike will be over Saturday night. (Unless something crazy happens)

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 1:11am

So, so, so pleased...

Here's hoping for the absolute best on Saturday!

*crosses fingers*

Lemme join in on the Snoopy Dance? A-thank you!
Updated On: 11/16/07 at 01:11 AM

[iluvcioffiiluvtea]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 2:42am

*claps hands and squeals excitedly*

Now I'll be able to see my musical theater obsessions!!

*joins in with the Snoopy dance*

[Glory]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 6:44am

guys the shows are only cancelled until Saturday according to Ticketmaster and Telecharge.

[StageFan2]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 7:20am

*stops dancing for reply*

Thanks for the music Josh - You play beautifully!

Play real loud and everybody start to dance (sure you can join Mike! )and maybe, just maybe, with the positive vibe - the lights will come back on on Broadway!

*continues dancing*

*stops dancing for informational edit/link*

According to the Live Broadway web site performances are cancelled through Sunday night Nov 18.

https://www.livebroadway.com/

*continues dancing*

Updated On: 11/16/07 at 07:20 AM

[April Saul]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 8:03am

After I read the last post, I called Telecharge again just now (8 AM Friday) and they are still saying that Sunday performances have NOT been cancelled yet, so I'm not sure why that website is giving up on Sunday already. I am crossing my fingers because I have front row seats for August: Osage County Sunday at 3!

[April Saul]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 8:03am

After I read the last post, I called Telecharge again just now (8 AM Friday) and they are still saying that Sunday performances have NOT been cancelled yet, so I'm not sure why that website is giving up on Sunday already. I am crossing my fingers because I have front row seats for August: Osage County Sunday at 3!

[BroadwayPer4mer03]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 8:17am

These people need to make up their mind!

[brainlessorwise]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 8:18am

It's true that even die hard fans can lose interest after a strike. I haven't seen a hockey game since the 2005 strike and my team won the cup the year before. An entire season was lost though, but they better get cracking.

[StageFan2]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 8:23am

From Playbill.com this morning.

"Although the League and the union are scheduled to return to the bargaining table Saturday morning, the League has already announced that the 27 Broadway shows affected by the strike have canceled both Saturday and Sunday performances. The soonest all of Broadway could be up and running is early next week (most shows are dark Monday), and that will only happen should the two sides either reach a tentative agreement this weekend or agree to allow the shows to go on during further negotiations."

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/112827.html

*stops dancing for coffee and a shower*

[April Saul]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 8:31am

I read this, too; can't understand why the info is conflicting about Sunday, but until Telecharge agrees with it, I can't give up hope....

[StageFan2]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 8:52am

Three cheers for not giving up hope no matter what the sooth sayers' say!

I hope they're all wrong and your right April!

[neurodude84]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 9:08am

It's a tough call for them. They prefer to announce cancellations at least the day before. Talks start at 10 am Saturday. Are they sure enough that the talks will end quickly to hope the Sunday performances go on? The last thing they want to do is work down to the wire and realize at 10 pm on Saturday that they still need more time to talk, and have to cancel shows. They don't want to piss off even more tourists like they did last weekend, so I would imagine Sunday will be canceled and we are looking at Tuesday for all these shows to be back (rehearsals by Monday I would bet).

[April Saul]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 9:29am

Well, hey guys, at least at this point I've got Telecharge on my side! (Okay, so maybe they will call Sunday off by this afternoon....?) But seriously, do you think any of the shows will come forth with fresh discount codes and deals post-strike? I already missed out on Seafarer, for which I'd bought an ultra-cheap, good seat with a preview deal. Whether the strike is settled Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, would you all wait and see what offers some of the newer plays come up with before purchasing more tickets? I'm assuming whatever deal you got on a cancelled show will not be taken into consideration when getting replacement tickets....

[neurodude84]

Posted: 11/16/07 at 9:37am

they might introduce some deals if they think it necessary to get the theatregoers back in the seats.