| Picketing Violas |
3 March 2003
|
Musicians Strike on Broadway Coming
Musicians are as much a part of the theatre in America as greasepaint and spotlights. Thanks to the poor financial structure of Broadway theatre, the musicians' union in New York is threatening a strike, and the producers' cartel is prepared to let them walk. A plague on both their houses.
In this instance, the union is trying to keep jobs that may or may not be necessary. Their argument has been that the composers and arrangers should decide how many musicians a show needs. They claim that the producers are too driven by dollars to make wise choices. If so, why should there be a minimum? What if 20 players will suffice, according to the arranger, but the minimum calls for 25? Better to scrap the minimum and make sure the power to decide is with the artists.
As for the producers and investors, their demand to make all their money back in a short amount of time has driven ticket prices to the far side of $100 for some shows. The death of live theatre is over-done, but when the only people who go to the theatre are tourists and the rich, civilization suffers; the poor will stay home and watch Fox and UPN.
Of course, if there were an arts council in New York (like the one in the UK) which subsidized theatre and other performing arts, much of this debate would go away. Anti-market? Sure, when one's culture is solely driven by market forces, one's values are those solely of the market. One would prefer a slightly better society than that.