The Show Will Go On

Actors' Union And Broadway Producers Agree To Prevent Another Strike

(AP)  The actors' union and Broadway theater producers reached a tentative agreement for a new contract Wednesday, averting the possibility of a strike such as the one that shut down Broadway for almost three weeks in November.

The new contract, which covers 39 months and expires in September 2011, would increase the compensation package for actors-including health benefits and pensions-by 11 1/4 percent.

Actors' Equity Association and the Broadway League, which represents both producers and theater owners, had been negotiating past the midnight Sunday deadline, when the last contract expired. The sides started negotiations in April.

"In two months of tough bargaining, we achieved an excellent contract with significant gains for every Equity member working on Broadway and the road," John P. Connolly, executive director of the union, said Wednesday.

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Photos: 2007 Broadway Strike

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"The collaborative spirit that prevailed throughout the talks allowed both sides to present their issues, understand the others' concerns and negotiate a new contract that serves the industry and the theatergoing public," Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, said.

The contract must be reviewed by the union's governing body. If it is approved, it will be sent to Equity members for a vote. Maria Somma, a spokeswoman for the union, said the process could take at least several weeks.

The two sides declined to release many specifics on the contract, to which Disney Theatrical Productions Inc. is also a partner, because it still needs to be ratified. Disney is not a member of the Broadway League. But they did say the agreement would allow greater flexibility in marketing and promotions, giving producers increased leeway to use new technologies to reach audiences. It also included a new arrangement for show tours. An experimental touring program started after the last contract talks in 2004. It allowed for different levels of pay for different kinds of tours. Details of the new arrangement were not divulged.

"With the digital age changing as fast as it does, Actors' Equity and the Broadway League addressed these changes and how it applies to our industry," Somma said.

In November, Broadway stagehands went on strike. The 19-day walkout dimmed the lights at more than two dozen shows and cost producers and the city millions of dollars in lost revenue during a busy holiday season.