From the archives: Broadway stages a comeback as stagehands settle strilke

This article was originally published in Newsday on Nov. 29, 2007

The curtain could rise tonight on most of the two dozen plays and musicals that have been shut down for more than two weeks as a walkout that cost the city and theater district tens of millions of dollars was settled last night.

A tentative agreement was reached before 11 p.m. yesterday between Local 1, the stagehands union, and members of the League of American Theaters and Producers. Details of the settlement were not announced.

"The contract is a good compromise that serves our industry," League Executive Director Charlotte St. Martin said. "What is most important is that Broadway's lights will once again shine brightly. ... We look forward to celebrating the season and welcoming our talented stagehands, and the theatergoing public, back to Broadway."

St. Martin said performances of most shows will resume tonight. Schedules for productions will be available at the Web site ilovenytheater.com.

In the hour leading up to the announcement, union officials instructed their members walking picket lines to return their signs to union offices on West 46th Street. Dozens of those pickets then gathered outside the law firm where talks have been unfolding. It was the first sign a deal was almost ready.

Moments after St. Martin and producers left the offices of Proskauer Rose at 48th and Broadway, Local 1 president James J. Claffey Jr. emerged to cheers from his membership. "The people of Broadway are looking forward to returning to work, giving the theatergoing public the joy of Broadway, the greatest entertainment in the world." Addressing the "brothers and sisters of Local 1," he said, "You've represented yourselves and your families and your union proud," he said.

After three consecutive marathon negotiation sessions between producers and stagehands, the final sticking point was reportedly wage increases.

New York 1 reported yesterday that theater owners and producers were offering a raise of 3 to 3.5 percent, while the union was seeking 4 to 4.5 percent.

Local 1 is required to give members 10 days notice of a vote to ratify the plan. Until then, employees work under a tentative contract.

The producers of "Chicago" announced tickets for tonight's show would sell for $26.50, but some productions will likely take longer to be up and running.

Box office figures released this week by the league reveal the financial fallout from the strike. Grosses for the nine shows running Thanksgiving week 2007 (one has since closed) totaled only $4.29 million, compared to $23.3 million for the same week last year, when more than two dozen productions were playing.

Attendance during Thanksgiving week this year slumped to 56,867, down from 272,488 for the same week in 2006.

Theater-related businesses have been hurt, too. City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. has estimated the economic impact of the strike at $2 million a day.

Still in limbo are opening nights for a handful of productions that were in previews when the walkout hit. Disney's "The Little Mermaid" has announced it will change its Dec. 6 opening, with a new date to be set after the strike is over.

Also forced to find new openings will be Aaron Sorkin's "The Farnsworth Invention," the Irish drama "The Seafarer" and an adaptation of an unknown Mark Twain farce, "Is He Dead?"

This story was supplemented with an Associated Press report

All that jazz
One of the first shows hoping to generate buzz off a concluded strike is "Chicago," whose producers within minutes of the resolution announced that all remaining tickets for tonight's show would sell for $26.50. It will be the first performance featuring former "Sopranos" cast members Aida Turturro and Vincent Pastore.