Klarinet Archive - Posting 000432.txt from 2003/03

From: Karona Poindexter <poindka@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] New York Theater Strike
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 12:29:52 -0500

Wow Richard,

You email looks just like how a news program would sound if they aired
the same story. Good email.

Karona

On Friday, March 7, 2003, at 08:41 PM, Richard Bush wrote:

> Here's what CNN wrote:
>
> The League of American Theatres and Producers said all musical shows
> for this weekend had been canceled. "This is a sad night for Broadway
> and for New York," said League President Jed Bernstein.
>
> Theater ticketholders at 17 Broadway musicals were left stranded after
> the musicals said they would not make their traditional 8 p.m. opening
> curtain.
>
> Musicians, striking since midnight on Thursday, are in a dispute with
> producers over the minimum size of orchestras.
>
> The League of American Theatres and Producers was prepared to replace
> live music with prerecorded, computer-generated "virtual music"
> beginning with Friday's shows.
>
> But the job action by the 652 unionized actors added considerable
> weight to the musicians' battle to save their numbers from being cut.
>
> "Our members have made it clear that they do not wish to perform to
> virtual orchestras," said Patrick Quinn, president of the Actors'
> Equity Association.
>
> Unionized stagehands with the International Alliance of Theatrical
> Stage Employees told the actors' union they would honor the picket
> lines as well, Quinn said.
>
> Actors, who could lose $1.3 million in weekly salary if shows fail to
> open, were set to join musicians' picket lines around the city's
> Theater District.
>
> "Virtual orchestras are not live music -- it's a computer program that
> sounds like a roller rink," said Harvey Fierstein, who is appearing in
> "Hairspray," at the union's news conference. "A machine is a dead
> thing, and that is not why people go to live theater."
>
> The two sides were still negotiating, they said.
>
> Broadway producers complained at an earlier news conference that many
> shows do not need the 26-musician orchestras required in the current
> contract, leaving them with "walkers," or hired musicians who sit on
> the sidelines collecting salary.
>
> "We love live music, but know of no other industry where workers are
> paid, but not needed," said League representative Barry Weissler,
> producer of the hit musical "Chicago."
>
> Producers called the current system an "archaic" one that unfairly
> limits their creative control.
>
> Musicians, who currently make a base salary of $1,350 per week, said
> the producers' demand is about saving money and would put musicians
> out of work.
>
> "This is my full-time job and a good chunk of my income," said Ray
> Kilday, a bassist picketing the Marquis Theater, where he plays in the
> orchestra for "Thoroughly Modern Millie."
>
> Kilday, who has played on Broadway for 22 years, added that "beefed up
> synthesizers" will sap performances' human quality.
>
> Julia Kim, 23, waiting to buy tickets in Times Square, agreed. She
> decided to go to a show with live music after hearing about the > strike.
>
> "That's the whole point of going to the theater," she said. "Otherwise
> you can just listen to this stuff at home."
>
> But Shirley Aninias, a 27-year-old New Yorker hoping to see the
> musical "Mama Mia," had no objection to recorded music. "I can't tell
> if they are playing live or not anyway."
>
> The dispute between the League and the American Federation of
> Musicians Local 802 centers on New York's largest theaters, where
> owners want to cut orchestras to 14 musicians.
>
> The producers said the union was unwilling to cut minimum orchestra
> sizes by more than six players.
>
> Local 802 called its last Broadway strike in September 1975 and nine
> musicals were shuttered for 25 days.
>
> Richard Bush
> Maker of 'BasSonic' bassoon reeds
> 760 Robins Avenue
> Ogden, UT 84404
> (801) 393-7265
> IDRS member
> ICA member
> rbushidioglot@-----.com
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

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