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"We have definitely seen a boost in ticket sales since the strike began," said Kelly Davis, a spokeswoman for the 59E59 theatre, where a 90-minute adaptation of the Fyodor Dostoevsky novel has been playing to packed houses. With eight exceptions -- including "Young Frankenstein," the Disney musical "Mary Poppins" and a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s "Pygmalion" starring Claire Danes -- most Broadway shows are shuttered. Theatres are refunding tickets and tourists are scrambling to change plans. Some fans are turning to Off Broadway, smaller venues that are not on the Great White Way. Same-day sales for "Masked," a play about three Palestinian brothers written by Israeli playwright Ilan Hatsor, received a boost from the strike, a spokesman for the production said.
How strikers stole the Grinch's Christmas
British tourists taking advantage of the weak dollar to do their Christmas shopping in New York are finding Broadway theatres dark, as a strike by stagehands stretches into the lucrative holiday season. Barbara Dow, a civil servant from Beckenham, Kent, and her daughter Joanna Lock, an ambulancewoman from Bethnal Green, East London, turned up to buy tickets on the Great White Way yesterday only to find most shows cancelled. "We wanted to spend one evening at the theatre. We are quite disappointed," Ms Dow said. "It’s the first visit to New York for both of us. We had heard there was a strike but we were not sure it was still on." Her daughter added: "It’s a shame really. A lot of people come from England to do their Christmas shopping at this time of year.
Strike stealing `Grinch' Christmas
Even the Grinch wants to get back on the boards. When talks between striking stagehands and theater producers resume this weekend, James Sanna, like everyone else on Broadway, will be watching the negotiations closely. Sanna is the producer of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical." Of the 27 shows shut by Local 1's dispute with the League of American Theatres and Producers, "Grinch" is the only holiday show and has a limited run. "It's been really difficult for our show," Sanna said Thursday. "Most of the people who buy tickets for our show are families. They plan in advance. "So even the looming threat of a strike was hurting our sales. And obviously, the strike itself is devastating when we had seven shows that were sold out just disappear." And this week hasn't been any better - with the prospect of 12 more canceled performances for an engagement scheduled to end Jan.
Broadway stagehand strike disappoints tourists
As if the Grinch really had stolen Christmas, children cried and parents were crestfallen. Confusion, surprise and anger played at ticket windows, and dispossessed theatergoers shared the sidewalks with grim pickets on Saturday as the stagehands' strike shut down most of Broadway's plays and musicals. Up and down the Great White Way and in the side streets where Broadway's theaters are clustered, marquees fell dark, and the electric playland of Times Square -- normally pulsing with anticipation for Saturday matinees -- was a canyon of gloom in Midtown Manhattan's petrified forest. Crowds of both US and foreign tourists, busloads from suburbia, throngs who had come by train or cab with children or grandchildren were caught off guard by the walkout and abruptly drawn into chaos: scrambling for refunds, seeking tickets to the few shows that remained open and in desperation looking for other attractions to ease their disappointment.
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