Broadway Back in Business

Fri. November 30, 2007 12:00 AM by GayWebMonkey.com

New York City, NY - Tourists can happily make their way back to New York City now that the 19-day strike between Broadway producers and stagehands has been settled.

The news that the League of American Theatres and Producers and Local One, the stagehands' union, finally reached a settlement came late last Wednesday night—after three straight days of negotiations.

"Performance for all shows will begin tomorrow night," said Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The League of American theatres and Producers, in a release on Wednesday.

According to various reports, some of the shows that resumed yesterday offered tickets at discounted prices. The bargains likely were a ploy to get butts in the seats, suggested Entertainment Weekly, as Broadway producers took a bit hit during Thanksgiving week. Last year, shows brought in more than $40 million during the holiday week while this year box-office sales came in at just $7 million.

Although details of the agreement that brought the lights back to darkened Broadway theaters have yet to be made public, the Washington Post has reported that the stagehands settled on a tentative five-year agreement with the League of American Theatres and Producers and that union members will vote on the terms Dec. 9.

As of now, both sides seem pleased with the result, with the union's official website stating that 'the Local One negotiating committee is firmly behind the ratification of the contract" and St. Martin calling the deal 'a good compromise' in a release.

This was the first strike to hit Broadway since 2003, when musicians walked out for four days. Before that it had been nearly two decades since Broadway was affected by a such dispute.

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