Broadway stagehands on strike

JESSIE HOLEVA STAFF WRITER JH734@CABRINI EDU

Broadway was buzzing, but not with excited fans, instead, with strikers urging pedestrians to take a flyer. Stagehands picketed and as of Saturday morning, 26 union shows were cancelled.

Coincidentally, Cabrini College’s Office of Student Activities had their trip to see “Mama Mia!” scheduled for Nov. 10, the same day the stagehands union put the strike into effect.

Ben Ferguson, a sophomore Spanish major and business administration minor, still attended the trip after having the option of backing out like a few students did. “For me the only reason to go to New York is to see a show,” Ferguson said. He still had a good time in the Big Apple but would have liked to see the scheduled show.

Fans come from all over the country to see a Broadway show. Producers of the 26 different shows had to turn excited theatre goers away due to the walkout.

The whole problem stems from contract negotiations between Local One, including stagehands and the league of American Theatres and producers. The issue of concern is the number of stagehands required for each production.

According to the Los Angeles Times producers argue that the work rules are too costly and dated. This is specific to the number of workers required to employ to install a new show in a theater and take down the show

“After I realized what the people were on strike for I understood where they were coming from,” Bobby Iocco, a sophomore business administrator major, said.