802 On Strike Against Broadway

Broadway is mostly dark this Friday evening due to a strike by members of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802. At issue is the minimum number of musicians that a theatre must employ. The musicians' union fears that if those minimums are reduced further, live music will disappear on Broadway. The actors (Equity) and stagehands (IATSE) refuse to cross the AFM picket lines, so the shows are shuttered.

This weekend I am playing my first pit job in several years, the Toms River High School North production of "State Fair", a show which I saw on Broadway in its short run at the tiny Music Box Theatre. I am again reminded of the power of people acting and singing on a stage with a sizeable orchestra full of capable musicians in front of and slightly below them. We had our share of showstopping moments in our show. Particularly tonight. Several times, I thought, "what if we tried to do this show with only three musicians, since this is only a high school auditorium, and filled in the rest of the parts electronically?" I don't even want to consider that inevitability.

But it doesn't have to be that way. As a member of Local 399, I wholeheartedly support my Union brothers of Local 802, and hopefully the theatre industry will take note and realize that our position is the right way... the only way.