No talks scheduled for Broadway musicians strike

NEW YORK -- Neither striking musicians nor theater producers were optimistic Monday about when talks would resume to end a walkout that has shut down nearly every Broadway musical.\nOfficials of the League of American Theatres and Producers and Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians haven't spoken since Friday, when 18 of Broadway's 19 musicals, including "Hairspray," "The Lion King," "Mamma Mia!" and "The Phantom of the Opera," went dark.\nBoth sides said no talks were scheduled. Producers met Monday and canceled the evening performances of "Chicago," "Rent," "Urban Cowboy" and "Phantom of the Opera." Monday is generally a dark night for most shows.\n"We are ready to have productive negotiations," union president Bill Moriarity said Sunday. "We are right now faced with what the league has termed its final offer. As long as the offer is 'final,' it is difficult to negotiate against it."\nJed Bernstein, head of the league, was equally downbeat. Yet neither the league nor the union -- battling over what the minimum size of musical orchestras should be -- made a move Sunday to break the impasse.\n"We are sitting by the phone," Bernstein said. "It's very difficult to engage in a negotiation when you don't have a negotiating partner ... somebody who wants to bargain toward a compromise."\nShutting down the 18 shows has cost about $1.2 million per performance in terms of lost box-office revenue, according to Bernstein. The city's tourism office estimated weekend losses for ancillary businesses, such as restaurants, hotels and taxis, at more than $7 million.\nWhile talks were stymied, picketing continued at all musical houses except Studio 54 where "Cabaret," which operates under a separate contract, was the only Broadway musical playing. The long-running revival, now starring Deborah Gibson and Neil Patrick Harris, sold out and had lines of people waiting for cancellations.\nOutside the affected houses, musicians picketed and passed out leaflets urging people to "save live music on Broadway," while disappointed theatergoers exchanged tickets for later dates or refunds.\nAt a meeting Sunday, unions for the stagehands and performers reiterated their support of the strikers.\n"Our actors have told us that they will not work on a stage on Broadway unless their union musicians are in the pit," said Patrick Quinn, head of Actors' Equity.\nDuring initial negotiations, the producers demanded no minimum number of musicians, then offered seven, raised it to 14 and, on Friday, to 15 for the biggest theaters, which currently require 24 to 26 musicians.