NEW YORK — The Broadway shows “Wicked,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Rent” 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 1 stagehands picketed in an orderly fashion behind barricades and declined to talk to reporters. The union had no official comment on the walkout.
No new negotiations have been scheduled between Local 1 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 disagreement involves 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.
The work stoppage first affected “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical,” a holiday attraction for families that had an 11 a.m. matinee.
School counselor Vicki Michel, with teacher husband Pat, came to New York from their home in Puyallup for a weekend of Broadway shows. The three shows they intended to see were all canceled: “Grinch,” “Hairspray” and “Mamma Mia!” They managed to nab tickets to “Young Frankenstein” (which was not affected by the walkout) and the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular,” and were headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday instead of “Grinch.”
In March 2003, more than a dozen Broadway shows went dark after musicians went on a four-day strike, costing the city millions of dollars in lost revenue. Earlier this year, the musicians agreed to a new three-year contract.
The 3,000-member stagehands union, which has between 350 and 500 members working on Broadway at any given time, contends it could find employment for many of its people in television or film during a Broadway work stoppage. However, the Hollywood writers strike has shut down production on more than a dozen prime-time shows as well as late night talk shows.
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