The curtains are back up on Broadway
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The curtains are back up on Broadway
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: One of the strikes in the entertainment industry is over. Broadway shows will reopen today. The stagehands who were picketing reached a deal with producers last night. More from Alisa Roth.
Alisa Roth: The lights will go up on Broadway tonight for the first time in 19 days. The strike, the first ever by the stagehands union, shut down most of the city’s theater district — including the Neil Simon Theatre, home to Hairspray the Musical.
The big issue was how much work producers had to give stagehands. Producers say the old rules were expensive and inefficient.
Neither side is disclosing terms of the new contract. But it reportedly includes new rules and bigger raises for the stagehands.
The strike has been expensive for both the industry and the city. In the last two weeks, theaters sold only around $7 million of tickets. During the same run last year, sales were $42 million. The strike reportedly cost the city $2 million a day.
It’s still unclear how many curtains will actually rise tonight. It may take several days for shows to get their acts together. But the cast of Hairspray is planning to go on this evening.
In New York, I’m Alisa Roth for Marketplace.
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