Broadway musicals closed 'til further notice'

Musicians union, producers deadlock over contracts

Striking Broadway musicians carry a symbolic coffin Saturday through Times Square in New York.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Broadway did not reopen Saturday after musicians and producers remained deadlocked in a contractual dispute that left little hope for a quick resolution.

"Broadway is closed 'til further notice," Patricia Haubner, a spokesman for the theater producers, told CNN.

Theater musicians went on strike Friday, and the Actors' Equity Association voted unanimously not to cross the musicians' picket lines. The stagehands' Local 1 also expressed solidarity with the musicians.

Hundreds of picketers carrying signs and playing instruments went on a funeral march around the theater district Saturday. A coffin with the words "Don't let producers kill Broadway" painted on the side led the procession.

Following closely were several veiled women theatrically wailing among cardboard tombstones inscribed with the names of Broadway musicals. The march ended outside the headquarters of the League of American Theaters and Producers.

"We're trying to take a message to them that they're trying to kill us," said Jack Gale, a trombonist on Broadway for 42 years.

The cancellation of Broadway's 18 musicals this weekend has cost nearly $5 million, said Jed Bernstein, President of the League of American Theaters and Producers.

About 325 musicians put away their instruments when the strike deadline passed at 12:01 a.m. Friday without an agreement. The two sides stopped negotiating Friday and did not set a date to resume.

"It's very sad," said Pat Smith, another spokesman for the producers. "It'll hurt the city, it'll hurt the economy and it'll hurt all those who have come to see a musical, many of whom have traveled across the world."

Exchanges or refunds would be available for any cancellations, Bernstein said.

"Cabaret," which operates under a different contract, is the only Broadway musical still open. Plays -- such as "Take Me Out" and "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" -- and the city's numerous off-Broadway shows remain open.

'Virtual orchestras' swayed actors to endorse strike

Before the actors' union announcement, producers were planning to replace the musicians with a "virtual orchestra."

"Different shows have adapted different techniques to provide music," Smith said, "but for the most part there would be one or two people using a keyboard to digitally reproduce the sound of the orchestra."

The virtual orchestras were to be a temporary measure and "a shield," said Bernstein, made necessary "because all of Broadway is under attack by 325 people."

The actors' union rallied round the musicians' cause. All 650 Actors' Equity members "made it clear that they don't wish to perform to virtual orchestras," said Patrick Quinn, president of the union.

"Machines cheapen the sound," Gale said. "The sound is inflexible and has no spirit."

The shows won't go on because the two sides cannot agree on the minimum number of orchestra players required for Broadway shows.

When contract negotiations began last month, producers wanted to abolish minimums.

"Being forced to hire people that you don't need to do a job -- it doesn't relate at all to the creative control that the producer should have," Bernstein said.

Since then, producers have increased to 15 the minimum number of musicians they were willing to accept in Broadway's large theaters. The minimums at those theaters now range from 24 to 26.

"That's the sixth compromise offer we have made in the last seven days, and the musicians' union has made none," Bernstein said.

The producers' concessions are not in tune with the goals of the musicians' union, the American Federation of Musicians Local 802.

"The minimums that the theaters have recommended is just a joke," said union spokesman Shawn Sachs. "These tiny numbers we have been given so far can't be considered orchestras.

"The producers need to come up with a reasonable offer to preserve the integrity of Broadway and keep live music from disappearing altogether," Sachs said.

Quinn echoed the musicians' complaint: "Our members believe that live music is essential, and minimums are appropriate and necessary."

Broadway last closed because of a strike in September 1975, when nine musicals shut down for 25 days after musicians went on strike, also over the issue of minimums.