Two Sides Still Far Apart in Broadway Strike

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Despite efforts by Disney this past weekend to bring the two sides together, the strike by the stagehands union against Broadway producers continues on. There are reports of meetings being set for this Sunday, but nothing has been confirmed.

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
Published: November 20, 2007

After strike talks between the Broadway producers’ league and the stagehands’ union unexpectedly broke down on Sunday night, the quick return to work that many had expected just hours earlier turned into a gloomy prospect of absent paychecks and huge losses during the lucrative holiday season.

Production staffs for the darkened Broadway shows gathered in meetings all day yesterday to map strategies. Last year, Thanksgiving week, one of the busiest on the Broadway calendar, brought in more than $23 million in ticket sales.

The New York city comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., estimated that the city was losing about $2 million per day because of the strike, in the direct loss of ticket sales and in the spillover effect of fewer dinner checks, hotel bills, rounds of drinks, taxi rides and souvenir purchases. But the League of American Theaters and Producers, which includes production costs and theater maintenance in its figure, says it believes a more accurate estimate is about $17 million per day.

Source: The New York Times