WGA Strike Ends!

After three months, the WGA members overwhelmingly voted to end their strike and return to work. Hopefully those powers that be can salvage the remnants of the season so we can have some new episodes of 30 Rock, The Office, Family Guy and American Dad. Among all the other shows you all know and love too. It’s also nice to know that these crew members and production staff people who were laid off as a result of the strike will once again be employed. Also, they can get back to work on quality movies so we’re not stuck with complete dreck in the fall.

And the Oscars shall go on and it shall be a glorious night. I saw No Country for Old Men, the contender for Best Picture. I am so incredibly fascinated by Anton Chigurh and his portrayal by virtual Oscar-lock Javier Bardem. Such an interesting and subtle film, beautifully directed and written, with generally superb performances all around. The book by Cormac McCarthy goes more in depth in terms of the characterization of the Sheriff, but as an adaptation, it is incredibly faithful. More movies to see in the next couple of weeks. Plus, some more Oscar thoughts.

IT’S OVER…and other important miscellany

Thank God. It’s over. Finally sometime this evening it was announced (officially) after 19 days that the strike has ended. The producers and stagehands have come to terms that apparently seem fair to everyone. While the pact awaits a ratification in several weeks’ time, all shows on Broadway shall be on tomorrow evening. I reiterate: Thank God. Now I can finally see August: Osage County, among everything else I’d been thinking about seeing this holiday season. Be sure check for discounts if there’s anything you want to see. The megahits have nothing to worry about, but the underdogs, especially the plays, need as much support as we can give them at this time. I’m sure we’ll soon get a notification of new opening dates for August, The Seafarer and The Farnsworth Invention.

In other major news, it’s official. Patti LuPone is going to reprise her performance as Rose in Gypsy for the Tony voters this season. Musically, it’s shaping up to be spectacularly promising; what with Jenna Russell in Sunday in the Park With George (for which she won the Olivier award), Kelli O’Hara in LCT’s South Pacific, Faith Prince in A Catered Affair, among others that I’m sure I’m leaving out at this godawful early morning hour. The entire cast has been offered the opportunity to reprise their roles. Hopefully Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines will also come back aboard. For more opinions on the revival, please see my previously posted open letter to Mr. Laurents, who will once again repeat his direction.

There are clips of Sweeney Todd online. This has done nothing to assuage my anticipation for the upcoming film. The more I see and hear bits and pieces the more I want to plan an elaborate heist to get an early copy. Well, I settled for a mild-mannered countdown on my facebook. What is fascinating are those who are already criticizing the film. The singing is mediocre. It looks like a Tim Burton movie and not Sweeney Todd. Where is that harmony? What about this line? I’ve accepted that this won’t be the Hal Prince Sweeney Todd with which we are so readily familiar while others haven’t. It’s a film adaptation that actually looks to be a promising entry in the year’s films. December 21 cannot come soon enough for me.

To hear some of the score: http://www.sweeneytoddmovie.com

Enjoy.

A Brief Musing

As I sit here in front of my computer, I check the time and realize that I should have been settling in to the Imperial Theatre for tonight’s preview of August: Osage County. Obviously, that is not the case. The strike continues and where is the end? Fortunately it could be in sight now as it appears that negotiations will resume on Saturday. The strike needs to end in an effort to reap the benefits of the ever-fruitful holiday season. Too many shows may not reopen, or open at all, if things can’t come to a head. All eyes look to this weekend.

Nothing appears to be happening on the WGA front, though there are now some amusing Youtube videos that have been posted over the past few days.

Strikes!

Right now, at this very moment, Hollywood and Broadway are effectively in a comatose state. On the film & television angle, we have the strike of the Writer’s Guild of America, in an effort to gain profits from internet and DVD aspects of their work, which are being commercially sponsored on the internet and other venues. The writers, In NY, almost all of Broadway (save for the non-profits, huzzah, and a few select non-union theatres), has been effectively shut down as of today as the IATSE stage hands strike over contractual issues involving an increase in wage as well as certain criteria for the hot-spot issue of load-ins. The Local One has been working without a contract since July 31 of this year.

It’s mindblowing to think that right now most television shows have ceased (or will soon cease) production cutting into the fans’ seasonal expectations. It’s mindblowing to think that as the Thanksgiving-Christmas season approaches, most of the Broadway shows are dark, threatening the economic climate of not only the theatre community of NYC, but also of the surrounding businesses and restaurants (and tourist trade). Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the League of American Theatres and Producers, estimates a direct and indiret loss of $17,000,000 per day as a result. Mid-town thrives on the theatre and for this holiday season, its going to be difficult should this strike be prolonged. Hopefully, it will be resolved in a manner similar to that of the musician’s strike of 2003. (Incidentally, I have a parallel experience here: both times I have had theatre tickets for the Wednesday after the commencement of the strike. Last time, things had cleared up in time, but we shall see what happens here…)

I am also incredibly concerned with the Writer’s Guild Strike as I find it an incredible issue of such importance that the outcome will impact the entertainment industry forever (and hopefully in good ways). The outcome of the WGA strike will influence the pending negotiations for SAG and DGA members, as their current contracts will be expiring in the spring. Not that I don’t sympathize with the current situation in NY, but it seems to me that those who write for television and film (not to mention those actors who don’t make the mega-millions) should reap more of the financial benefits of their work. For instance, The Office had 7,000,000 downloads off of itunes last year. That’s 7,000,000 times $1.99. That is what the show raked in. That’s almost $14,000,000 in revenue of which the actual team of the writers saw very little, if any at all – I think it was more the latter. (There was some rumor that Apple wanted to lower the episodes to $.99 which was why NBC pulled the show from itunes, since they wanted it at $4.99 an episode. Who knows the truth?) Residual benefits from these unwarranted corporate leanings would provide financial security especially for those writers who don’t rake in huge amounts of money like Aaron Sorkin or Tina Fey.

I hope situations are resolved so we’re not forced to sit through more reality spawn in our primetime TV (and that my shows return in triumph) and that I can go down and see August: Osage County this coming Wednesday. For the impact on film, we won’t really see that until some lousy rush-jobs are released next summer and fall.

Note: No Off-Broadway shows are impacted by the stagehand strike. There are also eight Broadway shows still running in NY that will not be affected: Cymbeline @ the Vivian Beaumont; Mauritius @ the Biltmore; The Ritz @ Studio 54; Pygmalion @ the American Airlines; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee @ Circle in the Square; Mary Poppins @ the New Amsterdam; Xanadu @ the Helen Hayes; and Young Frankenstein @ the Hilton. (Mel Brooks should be pleased, this strike will probably overshadow the critical evisceration his new musical received from opening night critics this week). Anyone with tickets for shows darkened by the strike are eligible for refunds and/or exchanges. Playbill has further information on how to get those refunds.

PS: For those fans of The Office, there is only one show left to air this coming Thursday. No new episodes until the strike has ended, kids.