Talks Resume As Number Of Open Shows Drops Back To Eight
Talks Resume As Number Of Open Shows Drops Back To EightSorry folks for the interruption in my reports, but I'm back home again this evening after a whirlwind trip to Germany.
I was sincerely hoping my first post-trip post would be able to herald the return of Broadway, but I guess I'll just have to settle for the welcome news that The League of American Theatres and Producers and Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.) have at least returned to the negotiating table. The New York Times' Campbell Robertson and Steven Greenhouse provide yet another excellent report on how the two sides are trying to court favorable public opinion.
So far, there's no word on how this latest round of talks is going, but I have to think that anything would be preferable to the result from the last round a week ago today. That's when The League abruptly left the table and promptly said that none of the struck shows would play during the entire week. It no longer seemed to matter to The League -- which has been telling the world that the economic impact of the strike was hitting $17 million per day, about $15 million more than the estimates by the New York City Comptroller's Office -- how much this strike would cost them during one of the single most lucrative weeks of the year.
When Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! reopened Friday at Broadway's St. James Theatre, the total number of Great White Way shows available to audiences during the typically busy Thanksgiving weekend increased to nine. But tonight, one of those shows -- Mauritius at the not-for-profit Manhattan Theatre Club's Biltmore Theatre -- shutters as originally scheduled, returning the total number of open shows back to eight.
The following shows remain open despite the strike because they are either performing in non-profit houses or are covered by other contracts:
Cymbeline
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
Mary Poppins
Pygmalion
The Ritz
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Xanadu
Young Frankenstein
Of these, I have not had the opportunity to see Grinch, but can recommend each of the other shows with varying degress of enthusiasm except for The Ritz, which I thought was just plain awful (click here for my SOB Review). You'll find each of my reviews in the right hand column of this site.
Barring a miracle this evening, the following Broadway shows remain closed by the strike (click here for ticket exchange policies):
A Bronx Tale
A Chorus Line
August: Osage County
Avenue Q
Chicago
Curtains
Cyrano de Bergerac
Grease
Hairspray
Is He Dead?
Jersey Boys
Legally Blonde
Les Misérables
Mamma Mia!
Monty Python's Spamalot
Rent
Rock 'N' Roll
Spring Awakening
The Color Purple
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Farnsworth Invention
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
The Phantom Of The Opera
The Seafarer
Wicked
Finally, before closing out this message, I want to express my deepest appreciation for all the individuals who've commented and graciously provided updates while I've been incomunicado. Thanks so much for keeping Steve On Broadway current even when I was unable to do so myself.
Now that I'm back, I'll be once again providing regular updates, but please keep those comments coming!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, League of American Theatres and Producers, Local One, Lockout, Stagehands, Strike
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Sunday, November 25, 2007
11 Comments:
Last year, Broadway pulled in around $42 million in grosses over Thanksgiving week and the week before.
No wonder they cant afford stagehands, only 42mill in 14 days.
What an unhealthy industry
the talks still continue;
"The only progress, if it could be described as such, is that we're still here," said Bruce Cohen, a spokesman for Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. "You can't make a deal if you are not negotiating. We're still negotiating."
Last I heard 6am Still talking
As a student studying film, theater, and television the recent WGA, and Local One strikes are disappointing, but I understand where the unions are coming from. Media including theatre is dominated and controlled by large corporations. Its important that the individuals who make this art remain protected.
thank the following elected officials who have shown their support by joining the picket lines:
NYS Senators Bill Perkins,
Eric Schneiderman and Thomas Duane,
NYS Assemblyperson Linda Rosenthal,
City Council Members Robert Jackson and Eric Gioia.
Their support is greatly appreciated.
Talks Stoped at 6 am andwill
resume at about 6 p.m.today
The city comptroller’s office has said that the strike, which began Nov. 10, costs the city $2 million a day, but officials from the League of American Theaters and Producers place the cost much higher.
This Is the same LEAGUE math that says I make $160.000
AND THAT THEY ONLY GROSSED 947MILLION BUT RALLY ARE RUNNING AT A 96 MILLION LOSS
WHAT GREAT ACTING OR IS IT LYING??
LA Times article hits on several key points in the Broadway strike that the Producers will NOT tell the public:
- stagehands don't 'greenlight' multi-million-dollar losers, like Pirate Queen or Seussical or ANYTHING else
- ticket prices would not drop if labor costs went down (anyone that says so is purely speculative)
- the Producers are not seeking playwrights or other artists to produce, opting for corporate trash with higher production costs unrelated to labor
Robert Anderson's famous quote about the theater, "You can make a killing, but not a living," has never been truer than it is for the new Broadway, which grossed almost a billion dollars last season. ...
For Up to the minute coverage of the strike....
SOB
Welcome Back Steve
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