Judge orders 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' back on stage

Source: Daily News

BY STEPHANIE GASKELL

Cindy-Lou Who isn't crying anymore now that a judge ruled "Dr Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas!" will reopen on Broadway Friday.

The hit musical has been dark since stagehands went on strike Nov. 10, but Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Helen Freedman ruled Wednesday that "the show must go on."

"I think one Grinch in this town is enough," she quipped as she ordered the St. James Theatre to open its doors for an 11 a.m. performance tomorrow.


Karp/Bloomberg
Cast members of 'Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!' celebrate outside court yesterday.


"I'm really excited to do my first opening ," said Athena Ripka, 9, who plays Cindy-Lou Who, days after a heartbreaking picture of her sobbing appeared in the Daily News.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2007/11/22/2007-11-22_judge_orders_how_the_grinch_stole_christ.html

They're on strike for a reason.

The court ruled against the theater and for the show, and the local's business manager testified on behalf of the show. So while the headline reads like union busting, it seems from the story that the union got what it wanted here. (Then again, it's late, and I could be missing a nuance ...)

Its a victory for the stagehands. They signed a contract with the producers that respected worker's rights they theater owner tried to interfere and got their hand slapped. They also could be out some serious cash for interfering with the contract.

Hopefully this will set a precedent where producers sign deals with local 1 and then force the theater owners to honor it, effectively breaking the theater owners.

I hate to see people out of work during the holidays.

I haven't read any really encouraging articles on ending the strike.

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/11/20/stagehands-get-lots-of-support-for-broadway-strike/

Stagehands Get Lots of Support for Broadway Strike

by James Parks, Nov 20, 2007

The Thanksgiving holiday is a time for families and friends to come together and the striking stagehands on Broadway are finding they have lots of friends in the union movement.

Contract negotiations are set to resume after the Thanksgiving holiday. After months of unsuccessful negotiations, the members of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 1 were forced out on strike Nov. 10, leaving most of Broadway’s stages dark. The main issues in the contract talks are work rules and wages. About a quarter of the 2,200 members of Local 1, who build scenery, maintain props and install and operate lighting and sound equipment, work in Broadway theaters.

The New York City Central Labor Council issued a statement saying it stands

in full solidarity with IATSE Local One in their fight for a fair contract and we know the union did everything in their power to keep the neon lights bright on Broadway.

The council is urging its 1.3 million members from 400 local unions to join the picket lines. When they come out they will be joined by the actors and musicians who perform on the Broadway stages. Members of Actors’ Equity and the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) Local 802 made it clear they are standing with their union brothers and sisters with whom they work side by side on the play, the “Great White Way.”

FULL article at link.

I'm with the Unions on this one all the way.

Going to a show is not "essential services".

This crap has got to stop - more power to the workers!!!!

If this is true, and the stage-hands had the unions' blessing to work, I don't see this as a strike-busting decision. More like a stunt by the owners intended to embarrass the strikers.

from the article:

"Local 1 stagehands working the "Grinch" were ordered by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union's parent group, to join the picket line, even though the show's producers have a separate deal with the union.

Over the weekend, the IATSE agreed to let Local 1 back because of the separate deal - and because the "Grinch" is a Christmas musical that relies solely on the holiday crowd.

Owners of the St. James Theatre locked their doors anyway, saying the union couldn't work on one show while striking others.

"Grinch" producer James Sanna sued, arguing the theater broke its lease agreement.

The judge agreed."

that's how it seemed to me as well ...

I know it's easy to be reflexively supportive of the union in this, but it's really a far more complex situation than that.

It's not the big, mean, rich producers looking for slave wages from the virtuous unions. The unions have long had rules that required a great many extra and unnecessary expenses from the plays' producers -- extra people to stand around, people there for jobs not required, minimum hours that don't match up at all with the amount of work to be done... real nonsense. Theater producers aren't uniformly big corporate entities with cash out the wazoo. Being affected by this, for example, is a production moving from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater -- a non-profit theater. The producers wanted to pay more per hour, but get rid of the "featherbedding". The unions like the featherbedding, because it employs more people. The problem is that the whole situation isn't good for theater in NY. And I for one would love to see that being the priority.

The unions do not ensure that people are hired to stand around, hire people for non-existent jobs, or require minimum hours mismatched with the work that needs to be done. Theatres regularly need to employ over-hire staff because they don't have enough crew on hand for the work that needs to be done. Perhaps you're confusing theatre with the "featherbedding" that can take place in the movie industry.

or more people on the call than were needed. You have people who are skilled in a particular area, ie: electrics, fly, props, etc. If the show is a light fly show it may apppeaar that people are just standing around....but they are standing around waiting for their cues....much like a supporting actor who has a 10 minute scene. That actor still gets minimum waiting for their 10 minute scene. If you look into the entertainment industry unqualified personnel performing these tasks have had, literally, deadly results. Does IA need some tweeking. Yeah, I'm sure they do, but the producers want everything for nothing. It's the nature of the beast. I've been on both sides of the line in my career......I stand with the IA on this one.

I know of union houses here that are hampered by such. It's far more expensive to put on a production there because of the unions. (Most of my career was in non-profit, with no union stagehands). Theater's not inexpensive, as you well know. Labor is always the biggest cost.

I know some producers *are* wealthy organizations or even individuals. But others are not -- they simply believe in their work, and don't exactly make a fortune bringing it to NYC.

This is a bit more balanced, I think, than the union story quoted above:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/theater/labor_relations_broadway/index.html?8qa

"To help lower those costs the league is seeking several major concessions from the union, which are intended to give producers more flexibility in how and when they employ stagehands. (Technically, Local One stagehands work for the theater owners, though the producers ultimately pay the costs.)

A primary issue is the expense of the load-in, the period when a production is moving into a theater; it can last for weeks and cost well more than $1 million. Before the load-in the producers of a show decide how many stagehands they will need.

Over the course of the load-in all of those stagehands are required to be on site, and are paid, even if they are not needed on certain days. Producers want to be able to use, and pay, only the stagehands they need on the days they need them. Producers are also looking for more flexibility in the rules about what kinds of tasks stagehands can be called upon to do when they are at the theater.

...
Currently the highest-paid stagehands, like head carpenters and head electricians, earn a minimum $1,600 weekly wage on a running show; stagehands in the lowest-paid, and most populous, category make a minimum wage of around $1,225 a week. But with overtime, additional work assignments and certain premium payments added in, wages can end up being quite a bit higher. (Figures provided by the league put the average stagehand salary at around $115,000 annually.) "

...the League of American Theaters and Producers?

:sarcasm:

Many of the off-Broadway shows are going on as scheduled, as the LATP says..

"Off Broadway shows and several Broadway productions, including CYMBELINE, MARY POPPINS, MAURITIUS, PYGMALION, THE RITZ, THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, XANADU and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN will perform according to their normal schedules."

http://www.LiveBroadway.com/

Sorry, I have no sympathy for Disney and Clear Channel's attempts to bust Local One.

I've worked in theater for 15 years and have yet to see a bunch of stagehands standing around jerking off.
In my experience they are usually busting their asses trying to meet the deadlines set by the producers.

Fuck union busters.

came from the League. The other figures aren't attributed to them, just reported by the Times.

In contrast, the other article cited came from the union.

I'm just trying to show that there are definitely two sides here.

and analysis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/arts/14broadway.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

after Christmas. It's different from other shows in that particular way. I can see how the judge might be swayed by this.

snip

Local 1 stagehands working the "Grinch" were ordered by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union's parent group, to join the picket line, even though the show's producers have a separate deal with the union.

Over the weekend, the IATSE agreed to let Local 1 back because of the separate deal - and because the "Grinch" is a Christmas musical that relies solely on the holiday crowd.

Owners of the St. James Theatre locked their doors anyway, saying the union couldn't work on one show while striking others.

"Grinch" producer James Sanna sued, arguing the theater broke its lease agreement.

The judge agreed.

end