Strike Up the Band? Negotiatons Between Theatre League and Musicians Union are Down to the Wire

Both the League of American Theatres and Producers and the American Federation of Musicians Local 802 are hoping an agreement can be reached before the contract between the two organizations expires on Sunday, March 3. However, there is still a great deal of conflict that the two groups must work through before this can happen.

As reported by TheaterMania on January 2 and January 16, one of the major issues of this contract renegotiation is the use of Broadway house “minimums,” which specify per theater the least number of musicians that may perform in any musical production. “House minimums are nothing more than old-fashioned featherbedding, the kind of thing that used to be common in manual labor unions such as the dock workers or construction trades,” reads a statement from League president Jed Bernstein on the organization’s Live Broadway website. “They have no place in the creative arts.”

Patricia Haubner, a spokesperson for the League, shares Bernstein’s sentiments. “It’s a matter of artistic integrity,” she told TheaterMania. “It’s a matter of who is best equipped to determine the music. And our position is that the creative team and the composer are the people that should be making the decision, not the union rule based on the size of the house or whatever the criteria is. Case in point: You would not go to a famous playwright or choreographer and say, ‘We know you want to do a pas de deux but we want you to have 12 people on the stage.’ In no other union is this done on Broadway. It’s not done in opera. They don’t do it in ballet. They don’t do it in the West End theater in London and not in most other cities in the United States.”

The League feels that the minimums should be eliminated in order to allow more artistic control over a production’s musical elements and to eliminate “walkers” — musicians who are paid but are not required to perform. The contract renegotiation between the League and Local 802 in 1993 instituted the “Special Situation Clause,” which allows a show’s producers to petition the musicians union for a reduction in the minimums on a case-by-case basis.

“Special situations eliminated a P.R. problem for 802,” says Haubner. “They said, ‘People can come to us and we can determine whether we can allow this.’ It is difficult to justify sitting and not playing. What has happened now is there are ways of cirumventing it. ‘Scoring up’ is one way, or putting actors on stage playing instruments.”

Local 802 fears the eventual elimination of live musicians from Broadway shows, a fear that the League says is groundless. “The League of American Theatres and Producers believes that live music is an integral part of the Broadway experience,” Bernstein’s statement reads, “and its members have absolutely no intention in our current labor negotiations of trying to eliminate live musicians from the orchestra pit.”

This has not prevented League producers from investigating the possibility of using “Virtual Orchestra” systems to keep shows going in the event of a musicians strike, and Broadway casts have met this week to rehearse with the systems. Bernstein addressed this subject in his statement: “If the shows involved in the contract talks are shut down, 6,000 stagehands, actors, box office personnel and other theater workers will be out of jobs at a time [when] neither they nor the city’s economy can afford it.”

“Virtual Orchestras and alternative ways of making music are not going to be employed under any circumstances unless 802 calls a strike,” states Haubner. “In the event that they strike even one show, we will employ our alternative in every theater. All for one and one for all; it’s a united front.”

In a phone conversation late yesterday afternoon, Heather Beaudoin, a spokesperson for Local 802, addressed recent reports that the musicians union might allow a reduction of the minimums. “We don’t want to negotiate in the press,” she told TheaterMania. “We’re willing to look at a middle ground as we grow forward.” But Beaudoin insists that Local 802 is prepared in case an agreement with the League cannot be reached: The union has called a strike authorization vote for Saturday, March 1. “We’ve never talked strike,” she says. “It’s been the producers who have talked strike. We’ve gone into this never wanting a strike. We’ve wanted to negotiate a contract.”

Beaudoin said that members of the musicians union were scheduled to meet near the TKTS booth in Duffy Square last night at 5pm to hand out leaflets and “Music Bills” (programs containing biographies of Broadway musicians) to help drum up support for their cause. The musicians were also set to visit all of the Broadway theaters housing musicals prior to last night’s performances, “to engage and educate audiences about the role of live music in Broadway productions.”

According to Beaudoin, Local 802 has already received a great deal of support from the community. Over 18,000 people have signed the petition on the website www.savelivebroadway.com, which reads, “Broadway producers are threatening to use pre-recorded music to replace some or all of the musicians in Broadway musicals. Help Local 802 fight for live music on Broadway. Show your support by signing our petition. This petition will illustrate to producers just how many people want the quality of Broadway to continue.”

In addition, a number of Broadway composers, arrangers, orchestrators, and conductors have signed their own petition stressing the importance of live music on Broadway. “The demands being made by the League of American Theatres and Producers will not, as claimed, protect composers from the dictates of the musicians’ union,” the petition reads. “It will instead take away our means of expression (live musicians) in exchange for increased profits. We believe that our artistic interests, and the interests of the theater-going public, were well-served by the expiring contract, and we strongly support a new agreement along similar lines. We oppose vehemently the elimination of minimum orchestra size requirements…. Without minimums, orchestras will get much smaller, and the creative team, along with the public, will be the losers.” The petition was signed by such figures as John Kander, Cy Coleman, Marvin Hamlisch, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock, Jerry Herman, Jason Robert Brown, Andrew Lippa, David Shire, Jonathan Tunick, Paul Gemignani, Don Sebesky, Douglas Besterman, William David Brohn, Bruce Coughlin, Rob Fisher, Robert Billig, and David Loud.

On one point, Heather Beaudoin and Patricia Haubner agree. “We’re negotiating in good faith,” says Haubner. “We have negotiations ongoing until the deadline and we hope that we can come to a resolution.” Beaudoin noted that negotiations with the League are scheduled to resume this morning (Thursday) at 10am, adding: “We hope the League will continue to negotiate in good faith.”

For more information on the issues involved in the contract renegotiations, visit www.livebroadway.com (particularly the news page, which includes links to League statements and fact sheets), and www.local802afm.org.