Monday Strike Catch-Up
A second day of talks between striking stagehands and Broadway producers broke down on Saturday, leaving performances canceled and theatres dark until at least November 25, at the start of one of Broadway's most lucrative periods every year.
Producers walked away from the table at a theater district hotel after 12 hours of negotiations, telling the stagehands' union that its offers "were not enough," said a representative of Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. No new talks were scheduled.
27 shows remain closed, with only eight open, and the strike is reportedly costing the city at least $2 million a day.
"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," Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the League of American Theatres and Producers, said. "The union rejected our effort to compromise."
Newsday and amNewYork also offer advice on how to get a refund on show tickets.
But good news for some holiday theatre-goers: Playbill.com reports today that "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the first show that was affected by the strike, may open its doors as early as Tuesday, Nov. 20...
The reason Grinch may be able to reopen is the production
negotiated its own contract with Local One, the stagehands union, prior
to the strike because the musical offers 12 or so performances a week,
different from the eight-performance schedule most other shows offer."
Grinch is scheduled to run until January 6 at the St. James Theatre in NYC.
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