Broadway Strike Ends
With Peter Marks
Washington Post Theater Critic
Tuesday, March 11, 2003; 11 a.m. ET

The Great White Way had been practically shut down for the first time in 30 years due to a strike between musicians, actors and stagehands on one side and producers and theater owners on the other. Eighteen musicals were affected since it started Friday. The issue? Producers are threatening to replace musicians with totally recorded, or "virtual" orchestras.

But now the show will go on. "Bloomberg Announces End to Broadway Strike," (AP, March 11, 2003). An all-night negotiating session with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg resulted in a four year agreement on the number of musicians needed for Broadway musical productions.

Peter Marks, Post theater critic, will be online Tuesday, March 11 at 11 a.m. ET, to talk about the future of live orchestras in the theater and the musicians' strike.

Marks joined The Post in August, after years as a theater critic and reporter in New York where he worked for The New York Times. He's glad to talk about any theater issue on your mind, from the fine points of performance to where you might be deliriously entertained this weekend. His reviews of recent productions in Washington and on Broadway are available at the Entertainment Guide.

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Peter Marks: Hello out there ... I just wanted to start by saying I’m happy to be making my debut on Live Online. Anything to nourish the theater habit…

A bit of news: -- it was just announced that the musicians’ strike was settled this morning. After 12 hours of negotiating, the two sides reached a compromise on the required number of musicians for Broadway orchestras. “18 or 19” are the new magic numbers for the minimum requirement for Broadway’s largest houses.

This is a classic glass half empty/half full scenario. What this means, in essence, is that the producers were not successful in eliminating the minimums. (The old top minimum was 26.) But it is also a concession by the musicians to a sad reality, that live music on Broadway is in an irreversible decline…

I’m happy to talk about the strike, or any other theater issue, local or national, that’s in your craw…Onto comments and questions….

Arlington, Va.: Hi Mr. Marks,

I suppose this is an obvious question. Doesn't the preposed pre-recording of Broadway music completely undermine the thrill and purpose of onstage performances? Who would go to see such a thing?

Peter Marks: There is, I’m sorry to say, a dumbing down going on in the live entertainment biz, and one aspect of that is the use of pre-recorded music in live shows. It’s a lot more prevalent than theatergoers imagine. In many shows these days, singing actors are putting bits of their performances on tape to give them breathers. (One show, no longer running, was even suspected of putting the tapping of a tap dancer on tape.) Because of the widespread use of synthesizers and amplication, interestingly, people no longer seem able to tell the difference between what is live and what is Memorex.
This past December, the Kennedy Center featured a one-act musical, “Tell Me on a Sunday.” Several people wrote to me to complain that I didn’t mention in my review that the orchestra was on tape. Well, guess what —- it wasn’t on tape! The 10-piece band was offstage and was being piped through a lousy sound system…

Washington, D.C.: Greetings,

One thing that hasn't been covered -- at least that I've seen -- is what would seem to the average person to be the ridiculous union rule that theater orchestras be a mandated size. What if an actors' union mandated that all plays must have 25 actors? Why can't directors/producers choose the musicians that are appropriate for their production? And, don't these union rules (and many others governing all facets of Broadway) significantly jack-up ticket prices?

Peter Marks: It's a very good question. The idea of minimums is an antique one -- N.Y. is one of the few places that still enforces them. And in some shows, it has become ludicrous. To meet the miniumum at Hairspray, for instance, four of the actors are considered musicians -- they're called walkers. In fact, though, with the advent of virtual music, minimums become something other than first intended -- a kind of firewall, if you will, against the replacement of large numbers of musicians.

Alexandria, Va.: First, I want to say how much I enjoy your writing, and I hope you will become a regular contributor to Live Online.

I am an avid D.C. area theatergoer who Amtraks regularly to keep up with the New York scene as well. That said, I must admit I am torn about this current strike. On the one hand, a labor contract which dictates how many musicians must be hired smacks of featherbedding. On the other hand, the dinky orchestras we must endure nowadays has led, in my opinion, to the demise of the overture, painful reorchestrations of classic musicals when they are revived, and the need to hire additional musicians for cast albums to avoid embarrassment. While I enjoyed Arena's recent South Pacific production, the overture was painful to listen to -- it seemed performed by a collection of soloists rather than an orchestra. While I am sure a financial resolution to the strike will eventually be reached, is there an artistic solution to this problem, short of giving up on full-orchestra works altogether? While I also enjoyed shows such as "Hairspray" and "Mamma Mia," a steady diet of nothing but these types of overamplified shows would not be welcome.

Given your experience and expertise, your thoughts on this question would be appreciated.

Peter Marks: Did you see 110 in the Shade at Signature? It was 13 or so actors, a similar number of musicians, in a very small space -- and totally unamplified. You could hear every phrase of the orchestrations -- individual bassoon moments, e.g., and it was absolutely transporting. Maybe that's the answer -- doing these shows for aficionados in small environments, and people who just want the big Bway experience can see this stuff in the 1,500 seat theaters in Times Square. Also, the other place to hear pure musical theater, as you probably know, is the Encores series, those musical concerts that are done three times a year in N.Y. at City Center, where they resurrect old shows ... "No Strings" is the next one up, I believe.

Catonsville, Md.: Are 18 or 19 musicians enough to generate a full orchestral sound? Will the average theater-goer notice a difference?

Peter Marks: Oh, God, you guys are good ... Some shows already do employ only 18 musicians. Hairspray is one of those, and they boost the sound with "synth" La Boheme on Bway has an orchestra of about 25 or 26 and they also boost the sound -- an orchestra in an opera house, of course, would NEVER do such a thing. But we seem to get accustomed over time to what's shoved down our ears. How many 25-year-olds have ever been to a show in a big theater and heard a full orchestra, unassisted by electronics? It's a dying art ...

New York, N.Y.: Peter,
Is this strike really a question of greed on the producers' part? Don't they make unconscionable amounts of money on hit shows?

Peter Marks: It's not entirely a question of greed. A lot of shows that run for a long time, believe or not, don't make their investments back. It's a hugely costly enterprise -- not only the 10 million or so upfront that it takes to get a show going, but the running costs, weekly can be upwards of 500 to 600,000, depending on the size of the cast, advertising, etc. So of course producers are looking for ways to cut costs -- and as someone on the picket lines said to me the other day, if you had the choice between paying 10 strings or 1 sound guy, which would you choose?

Bethesda, Md.: Do the Broadway shows that come through Washington, D.C. have small orchestras already or are they using canned music?

Peter Marks: Well, Bethesda, some shows do use canned music, but a lot of them are still live. 42nd Street is coming in a couple of weeks and their music will be live, though most of the time on the road, the orchestras are smaller than Bway, just as casts are reduced in size sometimes. There are places where recorded music is the norm for musicals -- Vegas comes to mind.

Chevy Chase, Md.,: Dear Mr. Marks,

Some years ago, I went to see Rent in NYC and found it deafening. Do Broadway shows feel they need to compete in terms of decibels with rock concerts and if so, why?

Peter Marks: This is a big problem, Chevy Chase. I think some in the theater biz think that kids won't come unless they have to see an ear nose and throat specialist after the performance. So the rock-inflected shows like Rent and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (an off Bway hit) blast you out of your seat. It's a huge miscalculation, i think, because the experience of a musical is supposed to expose you to all the elements of creativity, and these shows often stomp all over their lyrics, till you can't hear them. And in both of those cases I mentioned, the lyrics are witty and often powerful. Composers often tell me that they are distraught about how their music is handled ...

Washington, D.C.: Before unions took hold in symphony orchestras, conductors with hiring and firing authority built world-class ensembles in Cleveland, Philadelphia and Chicago. But today’s strong unions oppose change, and mediocre orchestras are stuck being mediocre. Do you see any parallels in the situation on Broadway? In their stubbornness, have the musicians unions legislated their own downfall?

Peter Marks: Again, a terrific question. To some degree, the unions are their own enemies. On Broadway, the rules are so elastic for orchestra members -- they are allowed to miss up to half the performances each week in a show as long as they find substitutes, which means the sound is never going to be quite as coherent and fluid as it should. So it's created a real sense of cynicism among producers, and so I think your observation has merit ...

Chevy Chase, Md.: Do you think the image of Broadway has been tarnished by this strike? So many people who had traveled so far were disappointed.

Peter Marks: This was not one of Broadway's shining moments. Not only had a lot of people flown from great distances -- with kids!-- to experience broadway, but Broadway was also the beneficiary of great largess after 9/11. The state of N.Y., for instance, bought up 2.5 million worth of tickets to shore up the industry. The city and state ran commercials telling people it was virtually their patriotic duty to see a show -- and New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians and Virginians responded en masse. Now, Bway disappoints them, and I think they better come up with something quick to restore people's faith, that they're not all just money grubbers ...

Silver Spring, Md.: I agree wholeheartedly with Arlington. Why bother hiring real singers? Why not just get Milli Vanilli? In fact, why not just watch digitally created films instead? Who needs people?!

Peter Marks: Silver Spring, I was wondering soemthing similar. When do we end up with lip-synching shows, not as a hoot, but as a staple? A few years ago, there was a minor hubbub when Julie Andrews -- JULIE ANDREWS-- considered recording a high note she was supposed to hit every night in "Victor/Victoria." In the end, she opted not to, to her credit. But you can see where this is all heading. We already live in a world of deception on TV, especially. (Is there anything sadder than Joe Millionaire?) and if we're not even going to be honest about what's being performed before our eyes, what's the point?

Castle Shannon, Pa.: Did any of the dramas show a spike in ticket sales since the musicals were all closed down?

Peter Marks: Yes, the plays did very well! When I was at the half price TKTS booth, and saw groups of people desperately looking for tickets to "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and "Take Me Out." This was not biz as usual.

Laurel, Md.: Is current Broadway income still down from pre-9/11 levels?

Is down from say, 2000, due to economic sluggishness?

Peter Marks: Income is not down, because ticket prices go ever higher. Attendance is off slightly, I believe ...

New York, N.Y.: I'd like to change the topic just a little. I used to read and love your features and reviews in the NY Times. Now that you've been going to the theater in Washington, D.C., what are your observations on the differences between the two? Is there a wide divide in terms of quality?

Peter Marks: I am answering this question not simply because you seem to have tremendously good taste. What I've noticed in D.C. is that there is a dedicated group of actors who work ONLY on the stage, and this gives them a real feel for live performance, in a way that proportionately, fewer actors in N.Y. do ... So you have stage animals down here who do play after play, and it's wonderful to see their varied work, in the space of four or five months ... What's missing in D.C. is the variety of new work -- the big theaters here are very good, but they don't tend to be very adventurous in their play and musical selections. I think they're worried about taking their audiences places they don't want to go. And I think if they took more risks, we'd see a bit more interesting stuff ...

Washington, D.C.: Since so many really terrific stage actors who would normally find work in TV sitcoms or dramas are unemployed because of all the wretched reality TV shows, do you think some of these people will come back to do theater?

Peter Marks: I've thought exactly along these lines, that reality TV will be good for the theater, because it will demonstrate what theater is truly for. For too long, playwrights have been trying to emulate tv drama, because that's what young people are raised on. Perhaps talented young writers and actors, who started out in high school and college theater, will exercise those stage muscles and begin to build back the theater's reservoirs ...

Washington, D.C.: Are there any new theaters under construction or under renovation on Broadway, and if so, what type of attention is now given to acoustics?

Peter Marks: THe Manhattan Theater Club is restoring an old theater, the Biltmore, as a Broadway house, and the Roundabout Theater just built the American Airlines Theater. Disney has the New Amsterdam and Clear Channel has Ford's Center for the Performing Arts, both recent additions to Bway. I'm sure they will all tell you the theaters are acoustically up to the minute; the question is, whether we'll ever get to hear how acoustically sound they are with electronic enhancement.

Washington, D.C.: You mentioned a lack of new work being done in Washington, and I think this is such a loss for everyone who loves the theater. Doesn't the Kennedy Center give give annual grants to American playwrights and why doesn't the Kennedy Center, therefore, mount those plays?

Peter Marks: I've raised this issue. The Fund for New American Plays at Kennedy Center gives grants to other theaters to mount specific new plays, but rarely, I think are they done here. I've wondered why, when they invite the playwrights to D.C. to accept the grants, Ken Cen doesn't stage these plays, so we can see where the money's going -- and also get a taste of all this work going on. I frankly do not understand how a piece like Shear Madness can play in the nation's premier center for the arts for 15 years, when that space could be used for new work. Can you imagine the Royal National in London putting on No Sex Please We're British for a decade and a half?

Rockville, Md.: You mentioned the rising cost of tickets in one of your responses. I find this heart-breaking because I'd like to take my children more to the theater more often but the cost is prohibitive. How do producers justify the costs and are't these $100 tickets really driving people away from the theater?

Peter Marks: Yes, yes, yes. The price has become so exorbitant that they have turned theatergoing on Broadway into a once a year habit, like Disney World. We're an affluent culture, I guess. Some shows offer steep discounts to groups, and to schools, etc., but those are usually the shows that are doing less well. You do have to remember that costs go up everywhere. Advertising in The New York Times alone is a tremendous expense.

Woodbridge, Va.: When you think of a show like Best Little Whorehouse written for a small ensemble, the twenty-something minimum seems like a ridiculous piece of garbage. Why is the union so absurdly inflexible, yet demanding great flexibility of the producers (almost unlimited subbing, etc.)? Can't they be more reasonable?

Peter Marks: Woodbridge, that minimum no. is a little misleading; the number varies from Broadawy house to house, depending on its size, so some theaters have minimums as small as three. In some cases, the musicians' union waives the minimum, so that a show that does not need a big orchestral sound does not have a ridiculously large number of people in the pit. On the other hand, there are no doubt cases in which more musicians are on the payroll than is necessary ...

Washington, D.C.: I am stunned that Shear Madness continues to play at the Kennedy Center, too. But I understand it is a cash cow for other projects. My question is, since the play is so lucrative, why doesn't the Kennedy Center move it to a more suitable venue and use that valuable playing space to present new American plays?

Peter Marks: Touche. (should be an accent over that e.)

Laurel, Md.: I was in NYC in November and after getting into the TKTS line, found that there were NO Broadway tix available because they had all been bought up to distribute to teachers attending an education convention. (My only complaint is that I didn't know.)

But, lacking Broadway tix, bought instead to The Little Ham, an off-Broadway musical, which I ended up thinking was terrific!

How many of these near-Broadway quality musicals are there usually in NY at one time, and can you recommend the current best?

Peter Marks: A lot of musicals are being done off Bway. Several of the most popular over the last few years were smaller shows in places like the Vineyard theater and Playwrights Horizons. I'd say there are two or three worth seeing every season ...

Alexandria, Va.: I saw 110 in the Shade over the weekend, and enjoyed the show.

One thing I've noticed, however, is that there is no mention of the musicians in the programs for the vast majority of shows I attend (and I know there are live orchestras because my sister plays in many of them). Every single other person involved in the show has a bio, but no such respect for the musicians.

Peter Marks: I have no idea why that is the case. Usually, on Broadway, they do list the musicians, by instrument, on one of the inside pages. They often give the music director a bio, but not the individual players, and maybe that contributes to the sense of disconnection in the pit.
I should say that I have spent several performances in the pits of Bway theaters, and they were extraordinary experiences. It's like hearing a cast album in CD, just gorgeous. Someone should come up with a promotion in which a theatergoer or two gets to sit in the pit -- people pay extra to dine in the kitchens of great restaurants, maybe they'd do the same in Bway houses!

Bowie, Md.: Typically, when a show that can run in NY permanently comes to Washington, the tour can only stay a few weeks (like Mama Mia). Considering the combined population base of the Tidewater/Richmond, Washington/Baltimore and Philadelphia area, is it possible that musical productions can be made permanent outside New York?

Peter Marks: I don't know that we'd get Cats now and forever, but surely they could "sit down" for longer periods than they do ... One issue must be space; D.C. has only two larger Bway style houses ...

Washington, D.C.: Washington is one of the country's most fertile theater scenes? How can you account for that? I understand there is something like 80 theater companies in the area. Competing.

Peter Marks: I was hoping you'd tell me. It was one of the things that attracted me to this job. I'd come to D.C. when I was in N.Y. and see things, and I was always impressed with Washington audiences. For one thing, they listen. For another, they stay till the end of the production. (walking out at intermission is one of the uglier theatergoing routines of N.Y.) I've been told that there is a higher proportion of people with graduate degrees in D.C. than anywhere else, so maybe it's just sheer brilliance.

Arlington, Va.: You just mentioned Disney. Are you concerned about what a big company like Disney has done or is doing to the quality of Broadway shows? I understand that theater is a business but I wonder if the people who choose what to produce for Disney are true theater people.

Peter Marks: Disney has been a force for good on Broadway, at least in terms of hiring talent. Picking Julie Taymor, an avant garde off Bway person for lion king was inspirational. I didn't think much of Aida, another of their shows, and Beauty and the Beast is a theme-park show, but more and more, they're trying to use truly imaginative people to bring their stuff to life. I see nothing wrong with kids becoming magnetized to the theater thanks to the opening 20 minutes of Lion King. The question is whether other companies that want to cash in on Bway have as much taste -- or whether stockholders at Disney would continue to support Bway ventures if the next two were artistic hits but not huge moneymakers ...

Why D.C?: Large population of educated single people who work for government and have time to devote to leisure activities during the week.

Peter Marks: There you go.

Alexandria, Va (again): Yes, I enjoyed "110 in the Shade" at Signature and am looking forward to what they do with "Follies," again with a full and presumably unamplified orchestra. You're right -- in addition to its other many strengths, Signature is a great place to enjoy unamplified musicals.

And by the way, Romberg and Hammerstein's "New Moon" is up next at Encores, with "No Strings" scheduled for May.

Peter Marks: Thank you, Alexandria. I forgot about New Moon. It will be fascinating to see what Signature does with Follies; I dont know that it's ever been done in a space like theirs.

Washington, D.C.: Care to comment on the Helen Hayes Award nominations? What do you make of theater awards as a competition? Do the Obies make the best case for an awards format? (i.e., the nomination is the honor and you give as many or as few as are deemed worthy?)

Peter Marks: I only started reviewing in D.C. in September, so I saw only a third of the "product." (in addition to the Sondheim celebration shows.) From the shows I saw, the ones the nominators selected seemed worthy: Recent Tragic Events, Host and Guest and South Pacific were all productions I thought highly of.
I'm this way and that on awards; I think if they draw attnetion to the work and make actors and directors and set designers feel good, then more power to them. But I think the idea of making them competitions is mostly a marketing tool, and though I get as involved as anyone, the Obies are a much more humane system ...

Alexandria, Va.: Do you think it's possible to attract a really world class company of actors to work in D.C. for a season? I always was fascinated by the idea of a repertory company and remember seeing the old APA when I was a kid in NYC. They had Helen Hayes and Rosemary Harris as regulars. Why don't theaters do that anymore?

Peter Marks: It's very hard to get actors anywhere to commit to a season. The economic pull of work in movies and TV is just too powerful. But I agree with you, that if not for a season, at least for a few plays in rep. I'd love to see the KenCen give one of its spaces for a year to some hot young director from someplace and just give him or her free rein. Like let Deborah Warner -- who directed Medea with Fiona Shaw -- have the Terrace Theater and do a season of classical and modern plays ....

Washington, D.C.: I grew up on The National Theatre of Great Britain and The Royal Shakespeare Company and I have always dreamed of the U.S. establishing a company of similar quality. Why do you suppose when every important nation on earth has a national theater we, who are so affluent, do not?

Peter Marks: I'm going to have a T-shirt made with your comment on it. Is theater too marginal a pursuit in the eyes of mainstream America for such a thing to evolve? I don't know, but it's a question I'm definitely going to pursue in this job ...

Peter Marks: Thanks to you all for your questions. Makes me feel as if there's a future in this ... (both reviewing and online chatting ...) Peter.