Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Broadway Blackout

This last weekend the Local One Union, to which Broadway stagehands belong to, went on strike. The result is there are now over two dozen Broadway shows shut down. This list includes some of the most popular shows including “Wicked”, “Phantom of the Opera” and “Rent”.

The dispute focuses on the number of stage hands needed to set up and maintain a show. The union requires a certain number of people to be hired for every setup, which can be huge, and another number for every performance. Many producers with less props to deal with wind up paying for stagehands who do not have much to do. The union does not want to just give up the negotiated work without something in return.

It is no coincidence the strike is occurring on the eve of Broadways busiest time of the year. This is exactly when the producers will be leaving the maximum amount of money on the table.

Hopefully everyone will kiss and make up fairly soon. In the meantime ticket brokers have to deal with the downstream effects of this. Every ticket sold to a cancelled event now has to be dealt with in some manner. Depending on where and how it was sold dictates how much. Regardless, the last thing any ticket broker wants to have to deal with is extra follow-up work on a already-sold transaction.

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