James J. Claffey, Jr. president of Local One must have been peeking into former Yankees’ manager Joe Torre’s etiquette manual when he proclaimed the following: “We want ‘respect’ at the table,” he said. “If there’s no ‘respect,’ they will not see Local One at the table. The lack of ‘respect’ is something we are not going to deal with.” (my respect-ful emphasis.)
The Broadway stage hands strike has been dragging on for nearly three weeks with no end in sight. The clash was a result of Broadway’s record-breaking season that grossed close to a billion dollars. However, the costs of the theatre business combined with Broadway’s high rate of failures (19 of the 30 shows that opened during the 2005-6 season, posted a loss of nearly 100 million dollars) has jeopardized its success. Broadway’s Theatre League is now trying to recoup its losses at the expense of Local One which is just as reluctant to lose or give up anything, all snug as a bug in their relative greed.
Nevertheless, I would imagine that theatre-goers are growing rather weary of seeing synthesized clones of “Les Miserables” or the “Phantom of the Opera” behind the neon glitz and glitter of every other marquee along the Great White Way. They’re also probably bored with the razzle-dazzle tout of hit shows that are supposedly sold-out for 10 years and prove to grow stale in 10 months, if that long. And, last but certainly not least, the kick in the head ticket prices that add an outrageous insult to the unforgivable insult of being duped into sit through this recycled mediocrity.
I would venture to guess that the “lack of respect” Mr. Claffey complains about is scarcer on Broadway than he imagines…certainly not to be found on a bargaining table. I think that respect was first seen when a Jerome Kern first melodiously planted it there and was gradually diminishing since the last days of Rodgers and Hammerstein who had preserved it there. Surely it’s a valuable commodity, much desired even by those who might not know what it really is…or was.
(UPDATE: The strike is finally over…and they lived happily ever after-11/26/07)
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