Broadway strike leaves theatergoers in the cold

An all-night bus trip from Youngstown left three
co-workers disappointed.

NEW YORK (AP) — For Gregory Pavlick and Maryann Sugar, their 52nd birthdays came with bright hopes dashed by darkened Broadway theaters.

Both stood disappointed on West 52nd Street after traveling to New York to celebrate, only to discover that “Jersey Boys” and “Hairspray” — both playing on the same block — were canceled Saturday by the Broadway stagehands strike. And it was going to take more than blown-out candles with birthday wishes to resurrect the Tony Award-winning smash shows.

Sugar and three co-workers from the Ohio Department of Health arrived outside the Neil Simon Theatre for the “Hairspray” matinee after an all-night bus trip from Youngstown, Ohio. They hoped to see cast members Lance Bass and George Wendt; instead, there were only pickets standing behind police barricades.

“We’re very disappointed,” said Sugar as her friends snapped photos of the theater marquee. For most of the group, “Hairspray” would have been their first Broadway show.

From “Wicked” to “The Phantom of the Opera,” from “Mamma Mia!” to “Rent,” most shows did not go on as Broadway stagehands walked off the job, shutting down more than two dozen plays and musicals.

It was a dramatic, uncertain day in the Times Square area for disappointed theatergoers, who mingled on the streets Saturday while striking Local One stagehands picketed in an orderly fashion behind barricades and declined to talk to reporters. The union had no official comment on the walkout.

The striking stagehands — who were told they couldn’t comment to reporters — distributed handouts to ticket holders apologizing, and explaining that producers are demanding a 38 percent pay cut.

“We ask for your understanding in our efforts to defend ourselves and protect our families,” the handout read.

If theatergoers weren’t outside the shows they wanted to see, they were looking witheringly at the board of available shows at the TKTS booth, where half-price tickets were being hawked for the handful of shows operating under different contracts.

No new negotiations have been scheduled between Local One and the League of American Theatres and Producers, so the outlook for a quick settlement looks murky.

The two sides have been in contentious negotiations for more than three months. Much of their disagreements involve work rules and staffing requirements, particularly rules governing the expensive process of loading in and setting up a show. The producers want more flexibility in hiring; the stagehands don’t want to give up what they say are hard-won benefits without something in return.

“We must remain committed to achieving a fair contract,” Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the league, said. “Our goal is simple: to pay for workers we need and for work that is actually performed.”

City officials said Saturday that it was too early to estimate the economic impact of the strike. Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed disappointment that the two sides couldn’t settle their differences without a strike, but reiterated, “The city continues to stand ready to help in any way we can.”

The work stoppage first affected “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical,” a holiday attraction for families that had an early 11 a.m. matinee.

Cheryl Brooks, who came to New York from Portland Ore., and her 20-year-old niece, Lila, had plans to see “Cyrano de Bergerac” and “Spring Awakening.” None of the shows, from “Forbidden Broadway” to “The Rise of Dorothy Hamill,” held any interest. But when they heard that cast members might be supporting the stagehands, they perked up.

“We’ll go see if Kevin Kline’s out there,” said Brooks, who headed to the theater playing “Cyrano de Bergerac.”

Pavlick, 52, and his 49-year-old wife Karen weren’t quite so understanding. The couple, to mark his birthday, purchased a pair of $180 tickets a year ago for “Jersey Boys” at the August Wilson Theatre.

Although they were aware of the strike, the couple decided to come in from Birdsboro, Pa., on the off-chance the walkout was quickly resolved. Instead, they were denied their Frankie Valli fix and a chance to see the Tony Award-winning musical — a particularly bitter pill for Pavlick, a native of Lodi, N.J.

Although the couple will get a refund, Pavlick said that getting the same great seats and planning the trip would likely prevent them from seeing the show until November 2008.

“We had to wait a whole year,” he said. “Hypothetically, if they go back tomorrow, we still have to wait a whole year again.”

Eight Broadway shows are still performing since they are playing in theaters with separate Local One contracts. Besides “Spelling Bee,” they are “Young Frankenstein,” “Mary Poppins,” “Xanadu,” “Mauritius,” “Pygmalion,” “The Ritz” and “Cymbeline.”