GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#1GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 12:52pm
"A Manhattan judge refused to play Grinch Wednesday, allowing the Broadway production of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" to reopen Friday.
The judge ruled this morning that the show would go on, despite the stagehand strike, at the St. James Theater.
"One Grinch is enough," Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman declared.
The first show will be 11 a.m. Friday.
The judge's ruling was met with a standing ovation inside the courthouse.
It came a day after she heard arguments from producers of the show and owners of the theater housing the $6 million production. Producers, citing a special contract between the show and Jujamcyn Theaters, wanted the show to go on.
The show's limited run was supposed to last through January 6, but it was shut down by the November 10 walkout.
It had been another tumultuous week on Broadway, as theater owners stepped in to block the show, which was set to reopen Tuesday.
After the surprising move by the management of the St. James Theater, members of the League of American Theaters and Producers, the producers of the "Grinch" sought legal action against the very theater they call home.
"Grinch," the first show shuttered by the strike, appeared to get a temporary reprieve when the union representing stagehands approved the reopening of the seasonal holiday musical.
The musical, which runs on an unusual 12-performance-a-week schedule, negotiated a special arrangement with Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees last year.
The show's producer, James Sanna, successfully argued that arrangement puts it outside the current negotiations. The union agreed and instructed members to stop picketing at the theater.
But the league responded by locking the "Grinch" producers out of the St. James Theater, where the musical opened November 9.
Meanwhile, one of Broadway's busiest weeks will be a bust after producers canceled all other shows through the holiday weekend. They say a weekend of talks went nowhere.
Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director, League of American Theatres and Producers, released a statement just before 11:00 p.m. Sunday, which read: "We are profoundly disappointed to have to tell you that talks broke off tonight, and that no further negotiations are scheduled."
The statement went on to say, "We presented a comprehensive proposal that responded to the union's concerns about loss of jobs and earnings and attempted to address our need for some flexibilities in running our business. The union rejected our effort to compromise and continues to require us to hire more people than we need."
"Out of respect for our public and our loyal theatergoers, many of whom are traveling from around the world," Martin said, "we regret that we must cancel performances through Sunday November 25."
Both sides had for more than 12 hours Saturday in a theater-district hotel.
Pressure has mounted for a solution to the work stoppage, which began November 10, because Monday starts the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday week, one of Broadway's best weeks of the year.
The stagehands - who include scenery and prop handlers, carpenters, electricians, and lighting and sound technicians - have been working without a contract since the end of July. Negotiations have focused on work rules - how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running.
Before this weekend, the two sides hadn't talked since November 8.
A small memorial service was held Saturday in front of the struck Minskoff Theatre, home of "The Lion King," for Frank Lavaia, a 57-year-old prop master who had a heart attack on the picket line Friday night and died.
The shows idled by the strike include some of Broadway's biggest hits such as "Wicked," "Jersey Boys," "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Lion King" and "Mamma Mia!"
Ticket sales for Thanksgiving week could normally top $1 million for several of those shows."
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=entertainment&id=5777775
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 11/21/07 at 12:52 PM
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#2re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 12:56pmDoes this mean Mamie will love theatre again?
#2re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 12:57pm
I hope the producers and investors of the Grinch sue all concerned (The League, Local 1 and IATSE) and end up with more money than they would have gotten running the lost shows. I don't see what case could be made against them - they were caught in the middle of this fight with a valid contract and screwed over by all sides.
This is great news - let's hope more good news is forthcoming.
"I have got to have some professional music!" - Big Edie
Updated On: 11/21/07 at 12:57 PM
#5re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:03pmTo think of all the families that cancelled their tickets for this weekend, next week/end.
"I mean, sitting side by side with another man watching Patti LuPone play Rose in GYPSY on Broadway is essentially the equivalent of having hardcore sex." -Wanna Be A Foster.
"Say 'Goody.' Say 'Bubbi.'" ... "That's it. Exactly as if it were 'Goody.' Now I know you're gonna sing 'Goody' this time, but nevertheless..."
#6re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:03pmLet's hope more shows open slowly. Hopefully, MERMAID will be next.
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
#7re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:05pm
This is great news!!! 
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
Updated On: 11/21/07 at 01:05 PM
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#8re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:05pm
The Grinch was the ONLY show with a separate valid contract. That's why the judge granted their producers' request for an injunction and re-opened the show.
MERMAID and the rest will have to wait until the strike is settled to re-open.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 11/21/07 at 01:05 PM
#9re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:13pmThat's also why I think the show's investors are entitled to damages. IATSE and Local 1 had no legal right to strike that show. I don't know if the theater had any right to lock out the stagehands this week - I would be interested to know if the judge's ruling sheds any light on that question.
"I have got to have some professional music!" - Big Edie
#10re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:16pmWell, at least somebody's happy. Maybe there's an end in sight. At least now the papers can't use the crying kids as propoganda.
I know you.
I know you.
I know you.
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#11re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:18pmSomeone besides John Wayne Gacey finally thought of the children!
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
#12re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:20pmsure they can- there is still the little mermaid and Lion King to cry over.
"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."
#13re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:20pm
"At least now the papers can't use the crying kids as propoganda."
The tears won't stop until Wicked reopens. Couldn't the judge have taken care of that while she was at it?
"I have got to have some professional music!" - Big Edie
#14re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:25pmYeah, but the papers can spin it and say "It took a judge to re-open The Grinch" not the League or the stagehands. And I won't be surprised if that's what they do.
Just give the world Love.
broadwayman17
Broadway Star Joined: 10/27/07
#15re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:42pmYay! The system works, well at least it works for one show.
Yes, but sometimes people have a third deeper layer thats the same as the first. Like pie. Dr. Horrible
StageFan2
Broadway Star Joined: 4/8/07
#16re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:49pmExcellent! Thank goodness, finally some common sense! Grinch should never have been included in the strike anyway. I think the Union and the League should dip into their Srike-fund and war-chests respectively and give Grinch back a determinant amount of their lost revenues.
#17re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:56pmI will ask this question here since it has to do with a re-opening. I wanted to see "Curtains" the week of the 3rd of Dec. Karen Ziemba is scheduled for vacation that week. Do you think that with the strike, she will just go back into the show when the strike is over. (If it is over before her scheduled vacation)
Just give the world Love.
#18re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 2:01pmAlthough I have no interest in seeing The Grinch, this is excellent news and I'm glad for all of the families that had tickets for this coming weekend.
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#19re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 2:05pm
uncageg,
As neither you nor Ms. Kiemba are children, no one is thinking of you, no one believes you deserve a happy Christmas and, therefor, the answer is a resounding NO.
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
#20re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 2:13pm
I don't get this. Aren't they suing to make the stagehands go back to work?
"Paul Libin, the producing director of Jujamcyn Theaters, which owns the St. James Theatre, where ``the Grinch' was playing, said that Jujamcyn would appeal the decision."
I'm not sure how the link thing works I hope this is it.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=avOkN7DJbq6s&refer=home
Insert witty comment here.
#21re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 2:27pmThe producers sued to force the Jujamcyn group to let the now not striking stagehands return to work.
#22re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 2:30pm
Jimmy, I'm sorry but you don't get it.
The Stagehands already decided to give in and go back to work. The Theatre owners than tried to sabotage their efforts by locking out the whole show. This really was too much! That is why the Judge, being of sound of mind and body, said, get over it! (in best Joan Rivers accent).
Sometimes, if you are smart enough to get a good contract, you win! It seems that the Producers of The Grinch were willing to lose a week of sales but not a month.
My theory and it is just that, is that the Union hoped this strike would last no more than a week, like the Muscians strike. Most shows could survive that but this was too much to ask of anyone with a limited engagement that came personally to them for a contract.
As mentioned many times here yet not officially, the Union didn't want to strike The Grinch because of the contract. Yet, if they didn't, it would go against their other members who had to strike to be effective. So it threw the workers into a very bad situation. Luckily, since so many of the strikers themselves cannot afford to fly their families to London for a show, they kicked Short back to the wherever he dwells and said it's their Union and they will go back and work this show only.
The Nederlander's shows would be the only group in place that could be reconsidered since they too created a separate agreement with the Union but then they ended up Locking out Local One anyways. So I don't think even having the boss bribe the Union Reps will get their Theatres open anytime soon without a fair agreement.
I personally believe that had the Nederlanders remained neutral, we wouldn't even have a strike. Again though this is my opinion and not a fact.
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#23re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 2:35pm
I LOVE that fairy tale, tkt!
Now, tell me the one about a childless baker and his wife.
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
#24re: GRINCH to Re-open Friday!!
Posted: 11/21/07 at 2:35pm
" The Nederlander's shows would be the only group in place that could be reconsidered since they too created a separate agreement with the Union but then they ended up Locking out Local One anyways. "
The Nederlanders did not perform a lock out.
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