CMU School of Drama


Friday, November 16, 2007

Strike throws Broadway a curveball

Variety: "Everyone agrees the legit stagehands' strike hurt Broadway and hurt Gotham. They just can't agree on how much. Estimates of the ripple effect on the New York economy range from the $2 million a day calculated by the Gotham comptroller's office to the $17 million per diem losses predicted by the League of American Theaters and Producers, the management side of the labor dispute with stagehands' union Local One."

2 comments:

Michael 'Rico' Cohen said...

Davenport states... So what happens when Broadway shows vanish from the spotlight? "I think people are going to see that the [off Broadway] has a lot to say."

I think this such a fascinating point. While the press seem to gear the strike as the entire theatre district has shut down, it is actually not the case. The immediate resurgence in Off-Broadway ticket sales is invigorating. I'm sure that the Fantasticks, also right across from Wicked is selling out every night.

Ideally what this is doing, is taking a more strictly 'broadway audience' and turning them on to the smaller off-broadway companies. While not only invigorating a market with an audience, it is also providing the audience with a much richer and more diverse genre of work.

Anonymous said...

good point rico. the lack of broadway names might encourage people to venture a few streets over to off-broadway, but those shows are harder to get information on and more likely out of towners who were planning to spend days on the great white way will take day trips elsewhere or in some cases call the trip off together. i really hope this ends soon, preferably before wednesday.