icewolf | Entries tagged with theatre

Greetings, all!

I'm really excited to be stage managing a collection of one act plays for Mobtown Players here in Baltimore. They're using this to kick off their new playwrights group, and it's looking to be really interesting.

For the Rude Mechanicals on my list, Mobtown's theater is the same space that hosted Much Ado About Nothing in February 2007. They've been doing a lot of repairs and enhancements, as well, so it's a really nice space.

This, of course, leads us to the audition notice!

( Click here for audition details! )

Yes, that last weekend of the One Acts run is Easter weekend, but there isn't a performance on Easter Sunday itself.

So if you're in the Baltimore area and interested in new, original one act plays, come on out!

There's a strike that's not getting a whole lot of play on the ol' F-List because, well, I don't know that many professional theatre people anymore, and even fewer professional techies.

BUT!

There's another strike going on, in case you didn't notice. The Stagehands, aka the IATSE, are on strike. Now, like the writers' strike which is frankly hogging all the attention, the strikers are being made out by Management (in this case, the producers, and no, these aren't fun ones like Leo and Max) as greedy and lazy. So! From the Actors' Equity website (no, they're not striking, but they are supporting the Stagehands) comes a refutation of a lot of the hoary ol' chestnuts making the rounds about stagehands. Note, this is from the "Members Only" section of the website, so no, if you go wandering over, you probably won't see it.

MYTH
The Stagehands are striking because they want to preserve "featherbedding."

FACT
If you follow the League's logic about "featherbedding," they could say swings and understudies fall into that category. They're at the theatre but not working on stage. ("Featherbedding" is an epithet or charge employers always make against Union workers when they want to cut jobs. The term itself refers to workers who supposedly get paid and don't work). Why are these negotiated, accepted business practices suddenly "featherbedding?"

MYTH
The Stagehands on strike are making $150,000 to $200,000 a year.

FACT
A Local One member who works 52 weeks a year will average $67,500 plus benefits. Most extra money comes from working beyond their regular work week.

MYTH
The union requires producers to pay for a full hour of work to cover a ten-minute mopping call.

FACT
The mopping usually take 40 minutes. The Stagehand who mops cannot work while Stagehands pre-set shows and dancers warm up. For safety, the floor is mopped and tracks for automated scenery are vacuumed during what would otherwise be the Stagehands' meal hour.

MYTH
Local One requires flymen on all shows, even when the show has no fly cues.

FACT
In 1995, Local One agreed to give up flymen on dramatic shows. In the last six years, only two Broadway musicals have employed flymen with no cues. The flyman also serves as a lifeguard when many tons of scenery are hung within six inches of each other. 200-300 intensely hot lighting instruments hang in aging and often poorly maintained theatres. All the firefighting equipment are in the fly space. Should a fire occur, the flyman is responsible for protecting the flies and the workers below. If there is no flyman, how long will it take for someone to get up to the equipment?

MYTH
The League prepared a strike fund knowing that the Stagehands would give them problems.

FACT
Since 2003 the League has been taking money out of every ticket sold in order to build a $20 million defense fund. Given that Local One has never struck Broadway in over a century, what were they preparing for?

MYTH
Local One requires ridiculous and unnecessary staffing minimums.

FACT
Staffing minimums have been agreed to in negotiation after negotiation. The Stagehands have demonstrated they're willing to change staffing requirements but the League wants more. Sweeping changes to a contract can't be done in one Negotiation.

MYTH
Pre-show checks can be done the night before.

FACT
Pre-show checks must be done immediately prior to the performance for safety issues to confirm that no damage has occurred overnight. For Actors, this is a safety issue.

MYTH
The League came to the Stagehands with honor, respect, and good faith, and the greedy Stagehands have walked out on them.

FACT
The employers continually attack the Stagehands in the media. They don't treat the Stagehands with honor and respect. Instead of continuing negotiations in October, the League walked out and unilaterally imposed non-negotiated work rules. That's usually seen as a declaration of war on a Union. The stagehands went to work under these rules and kept pressing to re-open negotiations which began again on November 7th. See Next Fact.

MYTH
The Stagehands walked away from the table.

FACT
Local One stayed to negotiate until 2 a.m. in the morning on Thursday, November 8, only to be told that the League was "too tired" to start at 9:30 in the morning. Thursday night, the League negotiators felt that preparing for the opening night party of "Young Frankenstein" was a bigger priority than negotiating. The League also reneged on compromises that had already been agreed upon, undermining the entire
negotiating process. The producers knew that their final offer would result in a strike.

MYTH
The producers and theatre owners have tried to negotiate with the stagehands in good faith.

FACT
The producers imposed their work rules on the Stagehands without a negotiated agreement. The Stagehands worked under these rules for 19 days before finally resorting to a strike.

MYTH
Stagehands have successfully worked under the new work rules.

FACT
Not so! Most shows tried and could not implement many of the League's new rules due to safety issues.

MYTH
Union members are expected to fall into step with the Stagehands without good reason.

FACT
The new business paradigm sought by the League will hit the actors next. During this time of incredible success in our industry, we cannot support the massive cuts the producers have sought from the Stagehands. If the League succeeds in the wholesale dismantling of the stagehand contract, our contract will be next.

STAGEHANDS KEEP BROADWAY SAFE

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End quoted material.

And people ask me why I don't want to go pro... *roll eyes*