I reported here a week ago on the strike of Broadway stagehands that turned most of the Great White Way into the Great Dark Way the previous weekend. The strike has continued all week long with neither side speaking to each other, and amongst many other casualties that tragically included a striking stagehand who died of a heart attack on the picket line, there was also the loss of two major opening nights (for The Farnsworth Invention last Wednesday and The Seafarer on Thursday).
But when it was announced that talks would resume on the weekend, hopes picked up that business would be restored in time for the usually lucrative Thanksgiving period that surrounds this Thursday’s holiday there. However, those hopes were dashed last night when, following two long days of negotiation on Saturday and Sunday, the talks broke off last night without any resolution.
According to Charlotte St Martin, executive director of the League of American Theatres and Producers, “We presented a comprehensive proposal that responded to the union’s concerns about loss of jobs and earnings and attempted to address our need for some flexibilities in running our business. The union rejected our effort to compromise and continues to require us to hire more people than we need”.
The producers have now announced the cancellation of the 27 shows affected up to and including this Sunday, but where or when will it end? Both sides now seem to be in this for the long haul. As Variety reports today, “The move by producers to end talks and cancel Thanksgiving perfs, while surprising, does make a certain tactical sense, as it takes the ticking clock of the profitable holiday weekend off the table.”
On a purely selfish note, it doesn’t stop my own ticking clock: I head back to New York this Wednesday for another ten-day trip, and there’s plenty I won’t now be able to see. But the great thing about New York is that there will still be plenty I can see – heavens, I may even finally get to Altar Boyz that I’ve previously long resisted, though maybe with good reason: the West End Whingers, also caught up in the strike on their trip to New York last week, went and were non-plussed.
But there’s a lot of other shows off-Broadway and in the cabaret world that I may also dip into – and if there isn’t much that’s good news about this strike, at least it will be focusing attention on other theatrical options for me and many other visitors. As Variety headlined a report last Friday, “Strike gloom spells off Broadway boom”. As the story went on to report, “What do 1,500 audience members do when one performance of The Little Mermaid gets canceled? They could go to dinner. They could go to the movies. Or they could fill all 194 seats at Forbidden Broadway seven and a half times.” That show, of course, satirically skewers many of the productions that are now closed, so the laughs may be bittersweet; and though its producer John Freedson reports an increase in walk-up business to his show, he doesn’t actually welcome the strike: “It sours people on Broadway, and it sours people on theater”.
Non-plussed is a very good word indeed.
I know you are being metaphorical and allusive when you say "The neon lights stay dark on Broadway…." but nevertheless we were quite taken aback to find that all the neon lights are actually still switched on at all the "dark" theatres.
A scandalous waste of electricity.
Lights on buildings in Times Square are actually required by New York City regulations. I'm positive that some of the building managers would rather not spend the money on the electricity and neon.
• I’ve worked in theatre for almost 35 years. Mostly as a non-union, middle management, department head. Mostly working in theatres with IATSE contracts. One thing I know is that “Load-ins” are as much of an Art as a Science. It is not like a moving company bringing in your household furniture. Even in the most expertly managed load-ins, there are periods of inactivity for some in the midst of tremendous activity for others, and nobody wants to wait for the other crew to come on call. Least of all the Producers. The work goes in shifts that ebb and flow and overlap. At times one group waits for another to finish before moving forward. Safety is a critical issue at all times. Unless you’ve worked backstage you can’t imagine how dangerous it can be. It’s not just a matter of bodies on call either; the IA members, while having a knowledge of all departments, are specialized. It has been my experience that some producers have a limited respect for these men and women. At certain times, (like during contract negotiations), they prefer to see them as simple manual labor. I don’t believe the general public understands how complicated this work is. Or how much experience, knowledge and dedication it takes to be a stagehand. It is hard, challenging work. Local 1 has a great reputation across this country. I urge Theatre-goers not to be so quick to write them off as “greedy union members”.