Lingering Broadway strike hits where it hurts

Lingering Broadway strike hits where it hurts
BY LINDA WINER

linda.winer@newsday.com

November 20, 2007

The theater community was reeling at the news that 27 Broadway shows will be closed through the lucrative Thanksgiving weekend.

"Stunned is the word," said Maria Somma, representative for Actors Equity Association, about the breakdown of talks between Local One, the stagehands' union, and the League of American Theatres and Producers. Two 12-hour days of negotiations came to an abrupt end late Sunday and Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the League, announced cancellation of performances through next Sunday.

As theatergoers with Broadway tickets hustle to make alternate plans, the industry tries to sort out the ramifications of an extended strike, which began Nov. 10. This is already Broadway's longest strike since 1975, when the musicians' union closed much of Broadway for 25 days.

Thanksgiving is a critical time for the commercial theater, second only to the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Income must be stockpiled to get productions through the bleak months of January and February.

Most threatened immediately by the strike are the five dramatic plays yet to open. "The Farnsworth Invention" and "The Seafarer," both scheduled to open last week, have been postponed, as has "August: Osage County," which was to open tonight. Like Mark Twain's "Is He Dead" (Nov. 29) and Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming" (Dec. 13), these do not have the advance sales or high profile that may propel Disney's big new musical, "The Little Mermaid" (Dec. 6), without the momentum of reviews.

There is concern for "Cyrano de Bergerac," starring Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner, a limited run that, despite strong reviews, has always been scheduled to close Dec. 23. Tom Stoppard's "Rock 'n' Roll" is not a limited run but the heady drama is in danger of losing the steam from its positive hype.

Then there are the long-running shows, staples without hefty advance sales, which are especially dependent on holiday tourists. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, instrumental in the settling of the four-day musicians' strike in 2003, called the strike "tragic."

"The bottom line is that it's not good for the city. It's not good for the people in that business. It's not good for tourism," he said yesterday. "There is no way to put hard and fast numbers, whether it's economic impact or a date. Is it a cataclysmic thing for the city? No. Is it bad for the city? Yes."