Theatergoers
lined up for tickets Thursday as Broadway returned to
business following a crippling 19-day strike that cost
producers and the city millions of dollars.
Tickets sold at a
discounted $26.50 in a special promotion as people
lined up for the musical Chicago.
''I never thought
I'd have the opportunity to see a Broadway show! And
the price is right,'' said Susie Biamonte as she waited for
tickets. The play was reopening with a new cast --
Aida Turturro and Vincent Pastore of Sopranos
fame.
The stagehands
and theater producers reached a tentative agreement late
Wednesday, ending a strike that kept more than two dozen
shows dark for nearly three weeks. The strike took an
economic bite out of New York City, with businesses
like restaurants, stores, hotels -- even hot dog
vendors -- losing an estimated $2 million a day.
But Biamonte and
her friends from Canada said they'd help fix the damage
during their weekend in the city.
''We're going to
make sure they'll be successful again because we'll
leave money behind,'' Rosemary Girardo said as the
Chicago line moved ahead.
The end of the
dispute was a big relief for playwright Tracy Letts, whose
critically acclaimed play August: Osage County
was to have opened on November 20. It is now scheduled to
open in previews Thursday night.
''I'm delighted.
I'm ecstatic!'' he said as he headed for a rehearsal
with actor Jeff Perry. ''We felt so vulnerable.''
Perry said the
walkout allowed him to spend time with family and friends
over the Thanksgiving holiday. But then, ''There was that
dead pit of your stomach feeling of, 'Don't tell me
this play will never be seen by a wider audience.'''
Most plays and
musicals that were shut during the walkout, which began
November 10, were expected to be up and running Thursday
evening.
''The contract is
a good compromise that serves our industry,'' said
Charlotte St. Martin, the League of American Theatres and
Producers' executive director. ''What is most
important is that Broadway's lights will once again
shine brightly, with a diversity of productions that will
delight all theatergoers during this holiday time.''
Local 1 President
James Claffey Jr. was equally effusive in signing off
on the agreement, saying, ''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.''
Details of the
five-year contract, which must be approved by the union
membership, were not disclosed.
But negotiations,
which began last summer, were difficult, right up to
the last day, as both sides struggled with what apparently
was the final hang-up: wages. It concerned how much to
pay stagehands in return for a reduction in what the
producers say were onerous work rules that required
them to hire more stagehands than are needed.
Until then, the
talks had focused on how many stagehands are required to
open a Broadway show and keep it running. That means moving
scenery, lights, sound systems, and props into the
theater; installing the set and making sure it works;
and keeping everything functioning well for the life
of the production.
The strike
couldn't have happened at a worse time for Broadway. Such
popular shows as Wicked, Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia!,
and The Lion King were shut during the lucrative
Thanksgiving holiday week. It's normally one of the
best times of the year for Broadway, when the city is
filled with tourists and Christmas shoppers.
City Comptroller
William Thompson estimated the economic impact of the
strike at $2 million a day, based on survey data that
include theatergoers' total spending on tickets,
dining, and shopping. The league put the damage even
higher.
Eight shows
remained open during the strike (their theaters had separate
contracts with Local 1), and they were joined by a ninth
when Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! got a
court order to let it reopen.
The end of the
walkout means a scramble for new opening nights for
several shows that were in previews when the strike hit.
They include Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth
Invention and an adaptation of a long-lost Mark
Twain comedy, Is He Dead?
Disney's The
Little Mermaid already has announced it would
push back its scheduled December 6 opening -- with a
new date still to be set.
''We hope
everyone's satisfied.... The atmosphere around our
stage door was: We tried to remain positive,'' Tituss
Burgess, who portrays Sebastian the crab in the lavish
musical, told New York 1 TV. ''We're just happy to be
going back to work.''
Alecia Parker,
executive producer of Chicago, said that she wasn't
worried theatergoers might not come back to Broadway.
''I think people
have been very disappointed to have Broadway dark,''
Parker told the television station. ''I think we'll see an
outpouring of support from the community.''
Parker said
rehearsals were planned Thursday to get the cast back up to
speed, but she anticipated few problems. ''You can imagine
the adrenaline for coming back after 19 days,'' she
said.
Broadway's last
strike occurred in 2003 when musicians staged a four-day
walkout. The musicians also struck in 1975, shutting
musicals but not plays for 25 days. (AP)