The wave of unionization that cleans the other side of Broadway is poised for workers and producers to reconstruct the economy of New York's theatrical production.
The impressive stage crew is idling with Nonrofit's Atlantic Theatre Company. It is the birthplace of the musicals “Awakening of Spring,” “Band Visiting,” and “Kimberly Akinbo,” all moved to Broadway and Wong Tony. The strike, which began last month, comes along a drive to assemble the stage hands and crew at a Broadway theatre.
Non-profit companies and producers fear that a unionization push will help keep costs down at a moment when many people run the deficit and show less, smaller staging. Second Stage Theater and Soho Rep recently emerged from their longtime venues and chose to share the space with other businesses. Another measure of sector reduction: In 2019 there were 113 shows qualifying for the Lucille Lortel Awards, honoring Broadway work. This season, there have been 59 eligible shows so far, but this will close at the end of March.
Many workers believe that unionization of the stage crew has been delayed for a long time, and point out that the sector has come a long way from its crude origins. With many Broadway theatres becoming mature institutions with increased production values, workers say it's time for them to pay better wages and provide benefits to their crew.
“The interests are very high,” said Casey York, president of the Off-Broadway League, representing theater owners, managers and producers, “not just for the future of the ever-vibrant sector, not just for the direct stakeholders, but for the ever-vibrant future of the sector. It has always been the cornerstone of New York's cultural identity.”
The drive is led by theatre stage employees, or the International Alliance of the IATSE, representing Broadway and Hollywood workers. He won a union contract at two long-running commercial shows on Broadway: The crew of the musical “Titanic” and pop star Celine Dion, which infuses the contract with “Titanic” and pop star Celine Dion, approved the contract last October, with the crew saying “Little's Crew” SHOP OF HORRORS” is the return of sci-fi musical comedy, and did so in January.
Now, the union focuses on the non-profit sector, organized by actors, directors and designers many years ago, and musicians are often united. Over the past year, the staff and freelance stage crews who work the most in the three nonprofit theatres (Atlantic, Vineyard Theatre and Public Theatre) have formed a union. These production crews include not only stage hands that move the scenery, but also people who work in audio, video, hair, makeup, wardrobe, props, carpenters and lighting.
“I don't know why they weren't previously unionized or came out of the pandemic, but in general, workers have realized that protection is needed. Workers collectively negotiate. Helps with the new York City. “Most Broadway workers came to us because we know we represent entertainment workers.”
The three nonprofit organizations whose crew recently unified have not reached contract agreements. The lectures have started in general, but they are not yet in vineyards.
In the Atlantic, where negotiations collapsed, members of the crew began their strike on January 12th, finishing the two plays they had already begun previewing. The conflict is being condemned. Both theatres and the union have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Commission (it is not clear how President Trump will move to put his stamp on the board).
Atlantic workers have picked out at least one of the company's two Chelsea venues almost on weekdays, but say they think it's the only way they can make a living by doing the work they love. . They are seeking higher wages and benefits.
“I will be 30 this month. I want to live a life supported by my work, and I think about how and unions to ensure the profits and wages needed to get there. “We're doing that,” Liv Rigdon said. The Atlantic costume supervisor is one of the impressive workers there. “Theatre is something I always try to do, and that's the life I chose, but I want it to keep me in the future.”
Tensions are already affecting artists and audiences. The theater postponed the fall 2024 season in hopes of a settlement and canceled the winter show when workers left. It is not clear what will happen with spring programming.
Although Atlantic officials did not respond to requests to discuss the situation, they made a statement when the strike began that they believed there would be a wider impact no matter what they do. “If IATSE succeeds in successfully achieving the proposed finances in the Atlantic, the company may “set precedents for other off-Broadway companies and see the end of the biggest institutions, including the Atlantic.” I stated.
Munro said the union has no intention of going out of the theatre company. “We are aware of the financial and economic realities of off-Broadway, but at the same time we are aware of the financial position of off-Broadway workers,” he said. “They have to pay rent and buy groceries, which is difficult for what they are being paid.”
Christine Essin, a professor of theater history at Vanderbilt University and author of “Behind the scenes: Cultural History and Ethnography,” said many crew members eventually left Broadway due to financial concerns. , said they are away from other places or for others. industry.
“Stage Hand does such a physical job and they start to realize that they can get injured, they need to have someone to protect their interests, and they will be able to do so. I hope that pensions are not considered when we are in our generation.”
There are widespread expectations of a large Broadway crew, trying to build unions, and workers' higher wages and employers' costs. Tom Kildahhi, the lead producer of the off-Broadway “Little Shop” revival, said negotiations with the union were friendly. He said last month the crew reached a contract by pushing up the running costs of the show and increasing the need to sell tickets.
Stage hand and other labor costs, represented by the IATSE, have been a major expense for large performing arts institutions such as Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall. The union is up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is not clear how similar or different the contracts there are to those in the larger venue. “They're going to be different because their needs are different,” said union spokesman Jonas Roeb.
There was a long way off-Broadway world corner with Union crew. The major nonprofit organizations, which have both Lincoln Center Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, and both Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres, have unified crews, as well as Stage 42, an off-Broadway space run by the Schubert organization. I'm doing it.
But most are not organized. Others wonder if they can afford to maintain their role as an incubator and training ground for new and challenging works for a new generation of playwrights, actors and directors.
“Everyone who works on Broadway is a pro union, but it has an impact. I'm concerned about how this will affect nonprofits that are currently struggling.” Currently, he works as general manager at Dr Theatrical Management. It's there.
York, president of the Off-Broadway League, called the production crew “essential,” but he noted the financial challenges facing the sector.
“The past few years have been tough and as we recover, we must focus on how to reinvent, maintain and grow this sector over the long term,” she said.
There are various theories as to why the sector's crew remained largely non-union for a long time. It refers to the temporary nature of the workforce (jobs are mostly freelance and short) and the entry-level nature of many jobs (partly due to low wages; that is, positions are often seen as the basis for training. (Good wages and benefits work).
Also, Broadway didn't have any particularly detailed behind the scenes operations, at least when it began. However, it has changed and production values have improved significantly. Some theaters have become more institutional and have larger budgets.
“At the distance from Broadway, if you remember what it looked like in the 50s and 60s, and how the little theatres before that, they were in spaces that didn't accommodate a lot of physical production. There were theaters in basements and strange old buildings, and the actors frequently moved chairs on and off stage,” he said, executive of the Lucille Lortel Foundation, which runs off-Broadway work from Broadway theatres. Director George Forbes said. “It was a different world, a different kind of production.”
