The musicians union are striking, with the stagehands union and Actors' Equity supporting the strike, and theaters have cancelled performances for the time being. If you need to get refunds for cancelled shows, contact the place you purchased them from. The last musicians strike lasted 25 days. Let's hope the theater owners come to their senses sooner than that.

If you're coming to NY to see a B'way musical, see a play or off-Broadway show instead.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ustry_eo/11399

Good update by Larry. One additional item: There is one Broadway musical that is not affected by the strike: Cabaret. One other option: The New York City Opera's production of A Little Night Music starring Jeremy Irons is currently playing in repertory at Lincoln Center through March 25.

From WCBS's website:

For Telecharge call 212-239-6200, toll free 800-432-7250;

Ticketmaster 212-307-4100 or toll free 800-755-4000.

For Disney's three musicals on Broadway, "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King" and "Aida," call the Disney hot line, 212-307-4747 or toll free 800-755-4000.

There also is a special Telecharge number for "The Producers," 212-239-5800, toll free 800-432-7250.

Telecharge customers can also send their ticket to the following address for a refund:

Telecharge
P.O. Box 998
Times Square Station
New York, NY 10108-0998

Please include your credit card information and billing address on credit card purchases when returning your tickets, and Telecharge recommends keeping a copy of your tickets for your records.

You can also get refunds at the theatre's box office if you purchased the tickets there.

Due to the strike, Flower Drum Song which was scheduled to close in a few weeks has now already closed permanently. If you are holding tickets for any performances in the future you can get your money back now -- no more performances will be given. I'd look for other early closings of shows that were not doing gang-buster business.

Let's all hope this gets settled soon!

The Times has a few related articles today, one is at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/09/ar...er/09BROA.html

Sounds like a great time to go to New York with my wife!

Went to see Barbara's Wedding today, off broadway and a pretty good show. Saw it with friends in the know and the latest is that the strike should be over very soon, the sticking point was the number of musicians in the pit, and we were told today that the union has agreed to a minimum number of 15. The sticking point was the minimum and sometimes there were players who just sat, didn't play just sat in the pit to make up the minimum number.

The musicians of the Mostly Mozart orchestra had a strike last summer and Mostly Mozart Festival was cancelled. It's a shame that this has to happen especially in the arts.

"It's a shame that this has to happen especially in the arts."

Because..........people working "in the arts" don't need money???

This strike isn't about paying people who are working in the orchestra of a show, it's about paying people who AREN'T. The musicians union requires a set number of musicians to be paid, based solely on the size of the house, not the musical requirement of the show. Essentially, the Union is protecting no show jobs. Given the labor history in New York, whose "family" members do you think have historically gotten those no-show jobs?

As an aisde, I heard a story that one producer used to require the "no-show" muscians to show up at the theater every night to play the Star Spangled Banner over an over again in the basement.

Ah, if only it were that simple, Ryan. But it is about far more than that. There have been only a couple of cases when the musician's union refused to allow special concessions for special shows where not so many musicians were needed. Yes, in a couple of cases the minimum number required by the theatre and the number that were really usable for a particular show didn't jibe and some musicians were paid for not playing, and in a couple of those cases they were instead used to play in the lobby for intermission. But in most cases, the producers could go to the union and special exemptions were established. As one example, for Smokey Joe's Cafe which did not need a large orchestra as dictated by the size of the theatre they were in, the union agreed that a smaller minimum could be used and it was. There have been a couple of other shows like that.

However, whether you want to believe it or not, the real issue is doing away with live musicians. Contact, was technically not a musical and due to its location at the Lincoln Center (I think this is right) was allowed to be performed with "recorded" music and ended up winning the Tony as best musical. But realize that there were no singers in that show, it was simply dance to recorded music. The days of knowledgeable theatre producers like David Merrick who was most concerned with quality are long gone. Today most shows are produced by corporations where the bottom line is profit, and many of them would be perfectly happy to replace a live orchestra in the pit with recorded music or a "click" track to save them money. The real reason the actors joined this strike is that no one wants to sing to recorded music as opposed to having a conductor literally getting an orchestra to "accompany" the singer, not the singer accompany a recording.

I too disagree with the outdated idea that the number of musicians in the pit needs to be based on the size of the house. Those rules were frankly established by the union to see that the musicians got their share of the large take in a large house. But at the same time I'd hate to think that a huge show like Les Miserables would be done by a four piece orchestra, or even by a 15 piece one as the latest "compromise" was suggested by the producers. But hopefully a compromise can be reached soon without lowering the qualities of the productions. And ask yourself one question. Sure the live musicians cost the producers money, but do you imagine if the number was reduced, they would suddenly say, "OK, good, now we'll lower the ticket costs to the public"? Not on your life! And the real bottom line is that the musicians' salaries still make up a very small part of the total budget for a big musical.

Without taking sides, I'll have disagree somewhat with Patrick's explanation. The main issue is not live versus taped musicians, as the musicians union wants you to believe. The producers/theater owners don't want their theaters filled with musicals that use taped music...and they know that audiences don't either.
Rather, it's a numbers game. The union wants a guarantee of x musicians (the higher figure) and the producers/theater owners want z musicians (a lower figure). Hopefully, the two sides will compromise on y (a middle ground) and Broadway will alive again.

What about the fact that regardless of wether or not the production is a musical, the house still has to pay for the minimum number of musicians? Certain theaters (because of size or whatever) must pay musicians even for a drama. What nonsense. I cannot be sympathetic to that. But, I do hope everyone will take a look at some of the wonderful off broadway shows out there now. Heartbreak House at the Pearl, Radiant Baby at the Public, Scattergood, String Fever, Observe the Sons of Ulster (Lincoln Ctr) are all excellent productions.

Good points, Ellen. I'll also add the NYC Opera Company's production of A Little Night Music to the list. Starring Jeremy Irons, it's must for Sondheim fans. It's playing through March 15.

Correction: A Little Night Music is playing through the 25th!

OK, Howard, I agree it's still not as simple as I was trying to explain, but let's face it, we all know that if the producers had their first wish -- to eliminate the minimums all together, or their second "compromise" for 4 musician minimums, that they certainly wouldn't have done shows with zero or four musicians -- they would have substituted or replaced all or most of the other needed musicians with click tracks or synthesisers. Like it or not, that really IS the real issue. But I'll be the first to agree that the musician's union can be just as unreasonable with their demands, and hope they are willing to give some ground too.

But I totally agree with you Howard, that I hope they can reach a compromise somewhere in the middle and soon.

And Ellen can you give an actual example of a non musical paying musicians?

Patrick, no, I have no names. But I can find out. It apparently has to do with the theater and whatever it said in their union contract from years ago, and still stands today. I was under the influence of a great brunello at the time of the conversation. The Barrymore and Martin Beck seem to ring a bell, but it could just have been the ringing in my ears. I will get more info on that for you.

I most likely shouldn't get involved with this, but I was a theatre major at UCLA and I just have to tell you that, as more and more theatres and productions companies start doing away with live music, the great looser in all of this is the audience. Anyone who has ever sang in a life production will tell you that you simply can not experience the depth of energy or emotion with taped music that you can with a live band, period. No matter what the technology, as Patrick stated many companies are trying to cut back on the numbers of live musicians used for musical theatre and substitute in many instances with pre-recorded music. Which in my opinion, is an utterly heart breaking trend. Can you imagine Les Miz with a tape?? It would simply cut the heart, soul and energy out of that production, to the detriment of performers and audience alike,
Regardless of the ins and outs of the union contract.

Sounds like a great time to go to New York.

Thyra, no one is disputing your point about a live orchestra versus taped music. But in today's economic climate and with the high cost of producing a musical show these days, there's got to be some cost-cutting or there may not be any Broadway. And, again, the issue today is not live versus taped, but how many live musicians!
(And, of course, we'll ignore Darvy's comment.)

Howard.. well I just had to get my opion out, you make valid points.. ... these events are extremely personal to me as my husband is a professional.. (yes union)college educated, jazz musician (West Coast) .. admittedly I am biased. ...well hopefully it will work out quickly as strikes are traumatic for both sides.