Broadway Strikes Out for the Holidays
By Amanda S. Coleman
On any given night, a person in New York can go to Times Square and see a Broadway show. Dinner at a fine restaurant and then a trip to the theatre is a perfect night for many. Broadway shows also bring in millions of tourists each year. But currently, this wonderful aspect of New York life is almost nonexistent.
Broadway stagehands, who work with sound, scenery, lighting and special effects, are on strike. The strike began on Saturday, November 10th. The stagehands are irritated that they are not being paid enough, especially since Broadway show ticket prices have increased so much and since it is an extremely profitable industry. They are also disagreeing with producers on how many stagehands are needed for a given show.
With Thanksgiving in our midst, the holiday season has almost officially begun, and with it, the usual hordes of tourists eager to see a Broadway show are pouring into the city. But this year, things are a bit more problematic.
"I've been waiting to see 'Wicked' for so long," said NYU student Anna von Kantzow. "I finally got tickets, and I'll be really disappointed if the strike isn't over before the time of the performance."
An AP article also states that "according to the producers' league, Broadway pumps five billion dollars into the New York economy a year and provides the equivalent of 45,000 jobs." For this reason, it would obviously be best if the stagehands could get what they want, or at least a compromise. Then this whole ordeal could be over. So many people, more than just the ones working on Broadway, are losing money each day because of this strike.
Off-Broadway shows and a few other Broadway shows such as "Mary Poppins," "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," and "Young Frankenstein," are still running, but all other shows have been dark.
"I've been looking forward to seeing 'The Little Mermaid' since I heard it was coming to Broadway," said NYU student Emily Rosenberg. "Now I have to wait until the strike is over, and I'm absolutely devastated. I hope this doesn't affect the release of 'Spiderman' the musical."
The economic losses from the strike are quite detrimental. According to the Wall Street Journal article, "Broadway Strike Weighs on New York City," "The League of American Theatres and Producers estimates that theater and related businesses are losing as much as $17 million a day during the strike." $17 million is an astronomical amount of money.
The strike does not just affect those directly working with Broadway shows but also restaurants and other stores in the Times Square area that are usually frequented by tourists before or after they go to the theatre. It is affecting every aspect of business, even hotels and airline tickets.
Restaurants in the area, used to the constant stream of theatergoers, have decided to be proactive to increase their business. From November 18th to 25th, numerous restaurants in the theatre will offer 15% discounts to customers.
"There's about 25 restaurants that have gotten together to do this," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to NY1news.com's article "Times Square Restaurants Continue to Suffer from Broadway Strike."
On November 17th, Local One Union and the League of American Theatres and Producers began negotiations. Previously, the union refused to meet with the League, claiming, "The organization of theatre owners and producers had not shown the union proper respect," according to the playbill.com article "Day 8: Strike Enters Second Week as Negotiations Begin." Talks between the two groups ended the evening of November 18th, and no further negotiations have been set up yet.
"Performances in the 27 theatres darkened by the stagehands strike have been canceled through Sunday, November 25th," according to the article "Talks Between League and Union Break Down; Performances in Darkened Theatres Canceled Through Thanksgiving," on playbill.com. Many people are missing the world of Broadway theatre, so hopefully it will return soon.
