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Stagehands and Producers to Resume Talks

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[November 17, 2007]  NEW YORK (AP) -- With the prospect of lucrative Thanksgiving holiday grosses evaporating, Broadway's stagehands and producers have a pressing reason to resolve their differences and find a way to end the strike that has shut down Broadway shows for a week.

Negotiations between Local 1 and the League of American Theatres and Producers were to resume Saturday at an undisclosed location. Both sides last talked Nov. 8, two days before the union walked off the job, closing 27 plays and musicals.

Local 1 and the league would not comment on the resumption of talks.

The stagehands, who include scenery and prop handlers, carpenters, electricians, and lighting and sound technicians, have been working without a contract since the end of July. Negotiations have focused on work rules -- how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running.

Thanksgiving week is second only to the week between Christmas and New Year's as Broadway's most profitable time. Grosses for hit shows such as "Wicked" and "Jersey Boys," are huge, but even less popular productions do well and they need the financial cushion to balance leaner times, particularly January and February.

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Meanwhile, in an effort to boost business at theater-district restaurants, diners will get a 15 percent discount from Saturday through Nov. 25. More than 25 restaurants are participating in the special program, designed to draw diners to restaurants that usually see most of their business from theater crowds.

"While we hope that an agreement will be reached as soon as possible, I encourage New Yorkers and visitors to take advantage of this great deal and help support restaurants that have been affected by the strike," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. The list of restaurants is available at http://www.nycvisit.com/.

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL KUCHWARA]

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