NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway The situation in the country is tense these days after two major unions authorized a strike amid ongoing contract negotiations with manufacturers.
The Actors' Equity Association, which represents more than 51,000 members including singers, actors, dancers and directors, and the American Federation of Musicians Local 802, which represents 1,200 musicians, voted to authorize the strike, a strategic move before any work stoppage. No strike was declared.
Members of both unions are currently working under expired contracts. The musicians' contract expired on August 31, and the share contract expired on September 28.
Both unions want higher wages and more contributions from producers to workers. healthcare costs, a key stumbling block. Actors Equity also wants producers to hire more stunt doubles and stage managers, add protections for performers in case of injury, and set limits on the number of consecutive performances actors can be asked to perform without days off.
The health of Broadway, once in great doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is now in jeopardy. very good now at least in terms of box office receipts. The 2024–25 season grossed $1.9 billion, the highest-grossing season in history, surpassing the previous pre-pandemic high of $1.8 billion in the 2018–19 season. It's been a long way back since the days when theaters were closed and the future seemed bleak.
Unions point to Broadway's financial health, arguing that producers can afford to increase wages and benefits for musicians and actors. Producers represented by the Broadway League counter that Broadway's health could be jeopardized by higher ticket prices.
“As we head into the most successful season in history, the Broadway League wants the working musicians and artists who contributed to that success to accept pay cuts, threats to health benefits and potential job losses,” Local 802 President Bob Suttmann said in a statement Tuesday.
The strike will cripple much of Broadway, but some shows may continue. “Beetlejuice” and “Mamma Mia!” arrived as part of the tour and therefore do not have a traditional Broadway contract. And shows that play in nonprofit theaters, such as Lincoln Center Theater's Ragtime and the Manhattan Theater Club's Punch, have separate labor agreements.
The most recent major strike on Broadway occurred in late 2007, when a 19-day strike turned out the lights on more than two dozen shows and cost producers and the city millions of dollars in lost revenue.
More than 30 members of Congress, including the entire New York delegation, signed a letter calling on all sides to negotiate in good faith and avoid strikes.
“Disruption of Broadway will not only cause significant economic disruption in the New York metropolitan area, but will also harm theater workers and patrons across the country and around the world,” the letter said.
