The Shows Go On!

Broadway Comes Back To Life After 19-Day Strike

(CBS)  Broadway was back. Crowds lined up for tickets and actors and crews converged on once-darkened theaters as dozens of shows came alive again.

"I'm thrilled! - for everyone," said Liz Enright, walking away Thursday with two half-price tickets to "Legally Blonde." The show was back on after being shut for 19 days during a stagehands strike.

"Broadway is exciting. It's New York. It's alive," said Enright, who joined fans milling around the TKTS discount-ticket booth near Times Square. It, too, opened again on Thursday.

She summed up the elation that filled Broadway after stagehands and theater producers reached a tentative agreement late Wednesday, ending a strike that kept shows dark for nearly three weeks.

"There's a lot of energy. I feel it coming off of Broadway, coming in! I want to go back to work," said Vincent Pastore, who was making his Broadway debut in "Chicago" at the Ambassador Theatre. He's known for playing Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on HBO's mob show "The Sopranos."

"Chicago" held a last-minute afternoon rehearsal to work out some kinks before going back on with a new cast that also included "Sopranos" actor Aida Turturro.

Outside, theatergoers lined up in front of the Ambassador, where promotional tickets for "Chicago" were going for a hard-to-believe $26.50. The show quickly sold out, and the offer was extended to the Sunday matinee.

British tourist Steven Haywood had flown to New York on Wednesday with his wife, Claire, to celebrate their 20th anniversary, unaware there was a strike. On Thursday, the couple was busy raking up tickets with glee - for "Chicago," "Hairspray" and other shows.

"This is Broadway!" he said. "It's a part of New York. It's the razzmatazz!"

Most of the more than two dozen plays and musicals that shut during the walkout were up and running Thursday evening, even if casts and crews were a little rusty after a nearly three-week layoff.