| Day 8: Strike Enters Second Week as Negotiations Begin
The stagehands strike, which began Nov. 10 and has temporarily shuttered 27 Broadway shows, enters its second week Nov. 17, the same day negotiations between Local One and the League of American Theatres and Producers are scheduled to begin anew. Today marks the first time since the strike began that both the union and the League will sit down together and attempt to solve the labor dispute that has affected the vast majority of Broadway's plays and musicals. Shows have already been canceled for the 27 affected theatres through Sunday evening, Nov. 18. The union had previously refused to meet with the League, saying the organization of theatre owners and producers had not shown the union proper respect. During the union's Nov. 11 press conference, Local One president James Claffey Jr., said, "As [members of the League] continue to say featherbedding and they keep [saying] basically that we're thieves, we're not going back to the table with that lack of respect.
Gardner, Fuller, Mason, Boston Play Shows at Westchester's Emelin Theatre
The Emelin Theatre in Westchester County, NY, continues its fall "Theatre in Concert Festival" with upcoming performances by Karen Mason, Emmy Award winner Penny Fuller, Tony Award winner Gretha Boston and Grammy Award winner Marcus Hummon. The Mamaroneck, NY, theatre is now under the artistic directorship of Michael Bush, whose vision for the venue is eclectic � concerts, cabaret performances and recent or new plays and musicals. The "Theatre in Concert Festival" (including readings and cabaret-style concerts) launched Nov. 17 with Everyone Expects Me to Write Another Streetcar. Some of the shows in the festival were seen in the summer 2007 Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's Cabaret & Performance Conference (artistic-directed by Bush). The series will end Dec. 6 with the Emelin's Broadway Holiday Cabaret, a one-night gala performance featuring the stars and artists from the entire festival.
B'way talks to resume
With the lucrative Thanksgiving week looming, striking Broadway stagehands and theater producers say they will start talking again on Saturday. Local 1 and the League of American Theatres and Producers jointly announced yesterday that they will resume negotiations "at an undisclosed place and time." Thanksgiving weekend is one of the best times for business on Broadway, with many shows selling out. It may have added to pressure for the union and producers to reignite their deadlocked negotiations, which have languished since last week. "Today's announcement . . . is a very important step forward," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The stagehands walked off the job Saturday, shutting down 27 plays and musicals. (AP) .
Striking Broadway stagehands and producers talk again
NEW YORK (AP) - Broadway stagehands and theater producers have been meeting again today in an effort to resolve a strike that's threatening to leave more than two dozen shows dark over Thanksgiving. Twenty-seven plays and musicals have been shut down for more than a week. The Thanksgiving holiday is usually 1 of Broadway's best weeks of the year. The stagehands have been working without a contract since July. Negotiations have focused on work rules -- specifically how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running. Neither the union nor the producers would comment on the resumption of the talks. They also met yesterday for more than 12 hours. The shows idled by the strike include some of Broadway's biggest hits.
Broadway Grosses Drop After Walkout
NEW YORK (AP) -- The impact of the Broadway stagehands' walkout became apparent in dollars and cents Tuesday as the League of American Theatres and Producers released its weekly box-office report. The results were obvious: dramatically lower grosses for the more than two dozen Broadway plays and musicals running an abbreviated schedule after they were shut down Saturday by Local 1's contract dispute with the league. The only shows registering gains were the eight unaffected by the strike (their theaters are either nonprofits or have separate contracts with the league) and playing a full eight performances. "Mary Poppins" jumped more than $200,000, climbing to $1.07 million for the week, while "Xanadu" spiked by more than $100,000, hitting $320,262. Even with only five performances before the walkout, "Wicked" managed to gross a hefty $852,843.
New York stagehand strike brings down curtain on Broadway shows
The curtain has come down on Broadway's plays and musicals after a stagehand strike that threatens to drag on into the Christmas season, disappointing thousands of tourists and costing New York millions in lost revenue. The strike, which entered its third day today with no resolution in sight, has closed 27 shows, including The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, Wicked and Dr Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which opened the morning the strike began. The stoppage pits the largest stagehands' union, Local One, against the League of American Theaters and Producers. They have been in fruitless negotiations for three months since contracts expired in July. It also comes as writers in Hollywood continue their week-long strike, which has greatly disrupted television schedules and forced many networks to air re-runs and postpone new series.
Striking Broadway stagehands, producers to resume talks today
NEW YORK (AP) - With the prospect of lucrative Thanksgiving holiday grosses evaporating, Broadway's stagehands and producers have a pressing reason to resolve their differences and find a way to end the strike that has shut down Broadway shows for a week. Negotiations between the stagehands union, known as Local One, and the League of American Theatres and Producers were to resume Saturday at an undisclosed location. Both sides last talked Nov. 8, two days before the union walked off the job, closing 27 plays and musicals. Local One and the league would not comment on the resumption of talks. The stagehands, who include scenery and prop handlers, carpenters, electricians, and lighting and sound technicians, have been working without a contract since the end of July.
Broadway Stagehands Begin Strike
Broadway stagehands went on strike Saturday, shutting down more than two dozen plays and musicals on what is the most popular theatergoing day of the week. The League of American Theatres and Producers and Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees have been in negotiations for more than three months, wrangling over work rules and staffing requirements, particularly guidelines governing the expensive process of setting up a show. Stagehands have been working without a contract since the end of July. Eight Broadway shows will not be affected by the strike, as they are playing in theaters with separate Local One contracts. Among those are "Young Frankenstein," "Mary Poppins," and "Pygmalion." Off-Broadway shows will also keep running. But among the shows shut by the walkout are such popular attractions as "Wicked," "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Spamalot." .
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