Strike over, Broadway lights up
Published 10:11 pm Thursday, November 29, 2007
NEW YORK — Broadway came back to life Thursday as stage-starved fans lined up in the cold for tickets and theaters reopened their doors following a 19-day stagehands strike that took a big toll on the local economy.
The mood was ecstatic all around the theater district. Tourists, actors, stagehands, restaurants, musicians, hot dog vendors — basically anyone remotely affected by Broadway — were all thrilled about the return of musicals and plays.
“I never thought I’d have the opportunity to see a Broadway show! And the price is right,” Canadian tourist Susie Biamonte said as she waited for steeply discounted $26.50 tickets to “Chicago” — reopening Thursday with a new cast that included two stars from “The Sopranos.”
The strike inflicted serious harm on Broadway during one of the best times of the year, when the city is teeming with tourists and Christmas shoppers. Officials estimated that the city lost about $38 million because of the strike.
The end of the walkout meant a scramble for new opening nights for shows that were in previews when the strike hit. Aaron Sorkin’s “The Farnsworth Invention” will now open Monday; “August: Osage County” from Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Tuesday. “The Seafarer” arrives Thursday; and Dec. 9 will be the new opening for a long-lost Mark Twain comedy, “Is He Dead?”
Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” has already announced it would push back its scheduled Thursday opening of Jan. 10. And a revival of Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming,” which had been set to start previews the day after Thanksgiving, will now premiere Dec. 16.
Musicals such as “Wicked,” “Jersey Boys,” “Mamma Mia!” and “The Lion King” were among the more than two dozen shows that were shut down during the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday week. These big hits regularly gross more than $1 million each week this time of year.
Most plays and musicals that were shut during the walkout were expected to be up and running Thursday evening.
