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STRIKE OVER! -- EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW!
by Eugene Lovendusky
HOW DID IT END? Raise The Curtain -- Contract
Agreement Reached To End Broadway Strike!
Now that this strike is
over, I'll probably have "my say" about it on my THOUGHTS
PAGE!!!
From: JOHN J. MOSES It has been brought to my attention that my daily postings regarding the Broadway Stagehands strike are being covered by our Union's newsletter, "News from Local 802", which is available on line to us all. Therefore, I am discontinuing my daily posts, and hoping the 802 newsletter, word of mouth, and our daily meetings at the Gershwin Theater will suffice for information about the strike. I want to personally thank my dear friend, a fellow musician, ARKADY, for his web design and consulting, and constant support and help in getting out the word, and his solidarity with our cause. He is a real Mensch! If any of you, in the future, need help with your websites, consider contacting Arkady! He is "one of us", a fellow musician who knows our particular needs. Contact Arkady at: http:/www.arkady.com/ Should you have questions please don't hesitate to call the 802 Theatre Department Business Representative Marisa Friedman 212 245-4802 x130, mfriedman@local802afm.org 802 Notes can be reached by sending an e-mail to 802notes@local802afm.org Additional Information is available on Local 802 Website Get on the picket line and online at the same time for FREE!!!
Thursday, November 15th CBS today said it has switched on the CBS Mobile Zone, a free Wi-Fi area in mid-town Manhattan that will be accessible by anyone. The large hotspot is intended to CBS' main building in the borough and will ultimately range vertically from the south end of Central Park to west 42nd Street; some of Times Square as well as a significant area between 6th Avenue and 8th Avenue are also covered. read full article
Day 14: The Stagehands Strike Continues
Broadway in Lockstep as Strike Rains on Parade:
Strike Coverage Day 14: Greenlight for Grinch - Nederlander Sues
Lingering Broadway strike hits where it hurts
Local One stage union amasses $5M strike fund to fight bosses, lawyers
THERE'S NO MEETING OF THE MINDS
UPDATE: Producers and Stagehands Union May Reconvene Nov. 25
Speaking Up for the Stagehands
On Broadway, Growing Gloom About the Holidays
BOO-WHOVILLE News from Local 802 AFMBroadway Strike Continues November 19, 2007 Talks Reach No Agreement Grinch News Despite failure to reach an overall settlement, Local 1 has agreed to take down its picketline at the St James Theatre and allow "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to re-open for its limited holiday run.We are awaiting confirmation that The Jujamcyn organization has ageed to resume performaces of the Grinch. We will post information on the Grinch schedule as soon as it becomes available. Musicians should also check with the show's in-house contractor. Photos of 802 members raising spirits on the lines. Should you have questions please don't hesitate to call the 802 Theatre Department Business Representative Marisa Friedman at 212 245-4802 x130 or e-mail mfriedman@local802afm.org 802 Notes can be reached by sending an e-mail to 802notes@local802afm.org or you can Subscribe to 802 Notes Newsletter Local One Member Has Fatal Heart Attack All hearts on the picket lines are saddened by the news that Frank Lavaia, 57, the head property man at Lion King, passed away on Friday night on the line. A brief memorial was conducted on Saturday night in front of the Minskoff theatre. Our condolences to his family and his extended family in Local One. IMPORTANT LINKS AFM Notice on Writers Guild Strike
Broadway strike talks break down
STRIKE UPDATE: Negotiations Break Off; All Performances Canceled Through November 25
Creativity, Strikes and Power
BROADWAY FLOP
Stagehands and Producers Break Off Talks
Day 10: Strike Continues After Talks Break Down; Most Shows Canceled Through Nov. 25
Strike talks break down
Strike throws Broadway a curveball
Striking stagehands and theater producers to begin Broadway talks
ACT 2: PRODUCERS, STAGEHANDS BACK IN TALKS
Stagehands on Strike: BroadwayWorld Coverage Day 7 - The Facts
After a Week, Broadway Talks to Resume Tomorrow
B'WAY EXPECTS BREAKTHROUGH
Examining why eight theatres are not affected by the current stagehands strike.By Zachary Pincus-Roth
Talks Will Resume This Weekend; Performances Canceled Through November 17
Can Disney save Broadway?From: Concernedmusicians1 <concernedmusicians1@lists.concernedmusicians.org> THEIR FIGHT IS OUR FIGHT: SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY NOW
League & Union to Renegotiate This Weekend
No talks scheduled to resolve labor dispute --
Broadway’s Showdown: The Lowdown
From: JOHNJMOSES This is a note from the author of WICKED, the book. He is very kind and concerned about our situation. This was a very nice gesture, and I will thank him for his kind thoughts for all of us. Hang in there, John In a message dated 11/13/07 12:30:04 Eastern Standard Time, xxxxxxxxxxx writes: Dear John and dear friends, from a distance but friends in heart nonetheless, A note to say how sorry I am that there is such unrest on the Great White Way--it makes the troubles along the Yellow Brick Road seem a picnic, doesn't it? Please know I am thinking of you daily and hoping that there will be a swift resolution to the dispute. If only I had a training wand of my own, I'd rule the situation differently....All best, Gregory Maguire Nov. 14 Matinee Performances of Darkened Theatres Canceled
November 12, 2007
Just after what would have been curtain time on Saturday night, Day 1 of the stagehands’ strike on Broadway, things seemed, if not normal, at least bearable. Some theater-district restaurants lost business, but others were buzzing with people who simply turned their pre-theater reservations into 8 p.m. dinners. Chorus folks hit the bars for a rare Saturday night off. There was even some singing in the streets. And then came Day 2. Outside the theaters at matinee time yesterday, in the otherwise empty cross streets of the theater district, actors, musicians and other Broadway workers stood drinking coffee and warming their hands, having arrived to show support for the striking stagehands and to sign in for strike pay from their unions. Quite a few of them were also beginning to realize: This show could run for a while. The producers’ league and the stagehands’ union do not appear near a settlement. In dueling press conferences this weekend — the union’s, which had a rally atmosphere at St. Malachy’s church on West 49th Street yesterday, and the league’s, a more straightforward affair at league headquarters on West 47th Street on Saturday — each side accused the other of forcing the situation to the strike point. Members of the League of American Theaters and Producers highlighted examples of what they called “featherbedding,” describing rules that require a certain number of stagehands to be present, even when there isn’t work for all of them. “We cannot sign another contract that retains these provisions,” Richard Frankel, a producer and general manager, said on Saturday. Yesterday, James J. Claffey Jr., the president of Local 1, the stagehands’ union, said he would not resume negotiating if league officials continued to treat the stagehands with disrespect — for example, by using what he considers loaded words like “featherbedding.” “We are not coming to the table,” he said, “with attacks on my local.” Mr. Claffey also said he continued to decline Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s offers of assistance. At the Veterans Day parade yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg told reporters he had offered to provide a moderator as well as a neutral venue to continue the talks, as he did during the musicians’ strike in 2003. “It is a private dispute,” the mayor said, “and they have to, in the end, work it out. We can’t tell them what to do, but we can make sure that we give them every opportunity.” In the meantime, the rest of the Broadway community stood in the cold and waited. The prevailing attitude seemed best summed up by David Hyde Pierce, now in “Curtains,” who showed up at St. Malachy’s wearing an actors’ union baseball cap. “I’m happy we’re doing this,” he said. “I’m just sad we’re doing it.” As expected, none of the members of the other Broadway unions crossed the picket lines: actors, musicians, wardrobe specialists, hair and makeup artists, ushers, treasurers, nor, to the slight inconvenience of reporters, the press agents. It was a moot point for the most part, as producers have no plans of trying to run shows without stagehands. But the other unions have their own contract negotiations looming, and they know the importance of keeping Local 1 on their side. Just how long most of Broadway would remain dark was the big question. “Yesterday it had a kind of tailgating atmosphere,” said the actor John Gallagher Jr., who was among the crowd outside the theater where “Spring Awakening” was supposed to be playing. “Today everyone’s a little too stressed about some of the effects of this, thinking, ‘I’m not working, and I may have to do this all of the time.’” Outside the Imperial Theater, the actors in the play “August: Osage County,” most of them from the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago, meandered on the sidewalk. The show had been scheduled to open Nov. 20. The show’s producers offered to fly the actors home until the situation was resolved, but that was not as easy it sounded. Many had sublet their places in Chicago and were on 30-day leases in New York. “And I’ve got my dog here,” said the actress Rondi Reed. Sunday night, the effects of the strike, which has shuttered all but eight Broadway productions, could be seen along Restaurant Row, where maîtres d’hôtel posted along West 46th Street said crowds were half of what they would be on a typical Sunday. The impact is harder to determine the farther one moves outside the billion-dollar small town of Broadway. The league said a strike would cost the city $17 million a day. But Jason Bram, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York who has studied tourism’s role in the city’s economy, sees little harm to the city. “Unless it goes on for a really long time, I can’t see it having any discernible impact on the overall economy,” Mr. Bram said. Maybe so, but try telling that to Alex Krasousky, a doorman at the Firebird restaurant. “It’s too calm,” he said, adding that the restaurant was closing an hour early. Diane Cardwell, C. J. Hughes and Trymaine Lee contributed reporting. http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=22905 The range of opinions on the strike from affected tourists, Broadway actors and crew, and New Yorkers ranged from disappointed, to understanding, to angry, to humorous. Here's a brief sampling of what BroadwayWorld.com heard on the street (with more to come). THE CASTS AND CREW John Moses, a musician from Wicked- "It's a drag and it's terrible for the kids and for all out-of-towners that come in. You get to town, you get the hotel and you can't believe that the show is closed. The union has been in existence for almost 125 years, it's the oldest union on Broadway. I said to the guys - you've never had a strike! The actors had and the musicians have had a few, but the stagehands haven't one until now. There've been warnings about it to the general public, but no real warnings. I think that they're doing what they have to do, but am disappointed about the whole situation." Cast member of The Lion King - "It's our 10th Anniversary, and I'm upset about that. We were rehearsing a long time, and cleaning and preparing. It's just kind of disappointing that our show is not going to happen..." Cast member of The Lion King - "Truth be told, it's a hard call. You have to understand the producers' side and the stagehands' side. These are the guys who are there for us. You have to be on their side on some level. But I also understand that the producers are the ones going back and forth. But let's think about the people who are coming into the city to see a show, and they won't get a chance to. That's the sad part. They've been talking about the strike for a long time. Now that it's on, let's get it over with." Deidre Goodwin of A Chorus Line - "It's bigger than just this one contract. I think it's important for the future of theatre in-general. There's bigger issues. We don't know the full things everyone is negotiating for and we just want to support them and hope that it gets resolved soon so we can all go back to work and do what we love doing." Natalie Cortez of A Chorus Line - "We're just going to be here every half-hour and hope that something happens; somebody starts talking. I really feel they waited as long as they possibly could. These are really responsible workers and we love them, they take care of us very well, and they would never do something like this haphazardly. They have very good reasons to do this." Mary Faber of Avenue Q - "We're here showing solidarity with our union brothers and sisters. We'll be here. We'll be here every day. I hope it gets resolved soon. Nobody wants to be out here in the cold! Nobody wants to see the kids sad and walking away." Evan Harrington of Avenue Q - "This is a historic event. Unfortunately it had to come to this, but these sides need to eventually see eye-to-eye and it seems like this might be the only way to get it done. But we have to stick with each other, you know? We're here until it gets resolved. The greatest thing about New York City is Broadway, and it's a shame that so many shows have to be dark today. And hopefully, only today." Debra Monk of Curtains - "We're just here for support!" Seth Rudetsky of The Ritz - "It was great as a performer because both shows were totally sold out, but as a member of the Broadway community I felt sadness for all the people working on the shows that were dark." Local One Union member - "We can't talk to nobody... Find a union captain." THE TOURISTS Katie from Florida - "It's really depressing because we flew all the way up here to see Legally Blonde. We saw The Rockettes this morning then we came here and got really sad when we heard it got canceled. I've seen it before and I wanted to take the rest of my family to go see it." Georgie of Pennsylvania - "I love Grease and the show must go on!" Ted
from Michigan- "I traveled a thousand miles to go to The Lion
King. I hope that they all starve." Steve from Boston- "My kids were really disappointed until they learned that McDonalds wasn't on strike!" Brent of Canada - "They've got a right to strike. There's enough to do that we can find something else." Steve of Connecticut- "I had tickets for Wicked today. We just heard about the strike now as we walked into the theatre, which was the most troubling aspect of it. A friend of ours bought these tickets a long time ago and offered us the seats. I don't think we'll be coming to the show again, because my kids (who are 11 and 9) are very disappointed." Marie of Pennsylvania - "They have a right to strike, but to decide three hours before a show when you're traveling from two-hours away, it's not right." Lindsay of Brooklyn - "It's really sad that so many tourists have come such a long way to see the best trait of New York... our shows... and now they can't see it. It seems like a lose-lose for everyone. We're losing money and the people are losing the entertainment." Andrew of California - "It's unfortunate that the people behind-the-scenes aren't being appreciated as much as they should." Murphy of Wisconsin - "This is frustrating for me. It's frustrating for my friends. But I'm sure it's doubly frustrating for New York. Broadway is the heart-and-soul of this city! The sooner both sides find a resolution, the sooner this town can do what it does best." Stay tuned for more strike coverage on BroadwayWorld.com as it becomes available.
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launches free Wi-Fi in Manhattan
