Broadway Doomsaying Lands Just Before Labor Negotiations Heat Up

The lede says “struggling.” The headline says “in trouble.” So when the New York Times uses those descriptors about musicals, theatre people sit up and take notice.

The September 22 article, by Michael Paulson, was certainly a downer, even if little in it was a surprise to theatre insiders. But the Times isn’t an industry publication; rather, it’s designed to reach a wide swath of readers and it’s certainly capable of swaying opinion makers. As such, it gave a platform to Jason Laks, head of the Broadway League; Andrew Lloyd Webber, a notable Cassandra about the expenses of Broadway; and commercial producers and investors to talk about the challenges in the field. Notably, some of Broadway’s most successful producers, such as David Stone (Wicked), Kevin McCollum (Six and Operation Mincemeat), and Jeffrey Seller (Hamilton) were not heard from, as if the biggest names in the field opted to stay out of a doomsaying piece.

In the wake of the article, social media colloquy was high, ranging from audience members who expressed fear for their beloved art form to veterans who shrugged the article off by saying the demise of Broadway has been predicted at regular intervals going back decades. That said, it’s hard to look at budgets of $25-$30 million dollars and the relatively small number of financial successes and not feel concern about whether Broadway is pricing itself out of viability through both the cost of production and the cost of tickets, which go hand in hand.

The timing of the article seemed opportune to specifically address two issues, one spoken of in the article and one oddly omitted. Overtly, the Broadway League and the producers who make up its constituency are actively lobbying for an extension of the New York State tax credit which has provided up to $3 million per show in relief to producers and expenses, so much so that it appears in some offering documents for productions as if it was a sure thing. But with the program having run out of money, though it gained a short temporary reprieve, the League and its members are now certainly working behind the scenes to insure it is extended and financially replenished, not merely a short term program that addresses the challenges of returning from the pandemic but rather the structural difficulty of recouping investments on Broadway. Paulson’s article provided an important tool to those in conversation with government offices.

Where the article was silent was the fact that it appeared one week before the collective bargaining agreements between the League and both Actors Equity and the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) were set to expire, with negotiations between the parties underway. The article served as a megaphone for producers to position themselves as under tremendous financial pressure, swaying public opinion – a factor that has influenced past Broadway work stoppages or threats of stoppages – to their side.

In the wake of the article, the unions were offered an opportunity to respond to the article. In a statement, Al Vincent Jr., Executive Director of Actors Equity said, in part:
“We do not know what shows on Broadway are struggling because we do not actually know what shows are making a profit – we do not have any control or insight over the financing or budgeting of any theatrical production, as The Broadway League has never been willing to provide us that information.
 
“What we do know is this: This season has been celebrated for being the highest grossing season on record. And we know The Broadway League is not being fully transparent about how they make or manage their money. We do know that many productions become even more profitable long after they close – through tours, licensing and other income streams.”

AFM local 802 separately provided a statement which echoed those sentiments, saying:

“Frankly, it’s suspicious that first the League reports that it had the highest grossing season in recorded Broadway then literally a few months later when negotiating with its artists, it cries proverty and distress. The matter is extremely simple: actors, musicians, stagehands and all creative workers on Broadway deserve health care, fair raises and good benefits. Working on Broadway is strenuous and demanding. It’s simply no secret that the League wants to enjoy a record profit while imposing austerity on its artists and taking back hard-won gains. Artists have had enough of the doubletalk: we deserve a fair contract now.”

On September 30, the floodgates of concern opened when a Reuters article raised the spectre of an actors strike, reporting that strike cards had been distributed and positioning contributions to the union health care fund as a key issue. That article and those that followed overlooked the current negotiations between AFM and the League, putting the people on stage out front when, for musicals, the musicians are equally important to a shows success, even if they are less seen.

There are unquestionably challenges for Broadway right now, and it’s not unique to musicals – plays, which rarely run more than three months, are now often capitalized at more than $7 million and seem largely reliant of celebrity for success. What’s unfortunate is that the conversation around it, and perhaps even the motivation to fundamentally address it, arises most often when the brinksmanship of labor negotiations is at hand, instead of when all parties might more easily work in concert for innovation and solution.

The current attention has been thrown into relief by a lawsuit filed by a small investor in the recently closed Cabaret revival, charging financial shenanigans, which has gotten disproportionate attention in the press because there’s nothing like some juicy litigation to generate headlines. That said, if the suit serves to make the finances of Broadway more transparent, then perhaps everyone – producers, unions, the press and the public can get a clear picture of what certainly is ailing Broadway, even if as always, the Fabulous Invalid needs treatment, but isn’t yet terminal.