| re: Producers: "Here Lies Love Does Not Believe in Artistic Gate-Keepers" | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:53 pm EDT 06/02/23 | |
| In reply to: Producers: "Here Lies Love Does Not Believe in Artistic Gate-Keepers" - dbdbdb 12:15 pm EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| This was posted on Facebook by Robert Meffe. In the replies, he gave permission for it to be shared. I'm linking the Facebook page. ************* The controversy over HERE LIVES LOVE on Broadway is being muddled by misinformation. As a lifelong member of the musicians' union, and also a musical theatre researcher, I wrote an extensive journal article entitled "How Many Musicians Does it Take: A History and Analysis of the Shrinking Broadway Pit Orchestra." I encourage anyone to read it; I've included a link here. It's peer-reviewed and painstakingly researched. If you don't have the time, let me clear up some misconceptions: (1) This isn't about artistic freedom. To produce a musical show in a Broadway house, you have to rent that theatre. Renting that theatre comes with certain conditions; for instance, you have to pay for ushers. Another condition that has to be met is that if you are producing a musical, you have to pay for musicians. The number of musicians is what is called the "minimum." At the Broadway Theatre where HERE LIVES LOVE is about to open, the contract says you have to pay for 19 musicians and they want to pay for 0 musicians. Without being granted an exception, this is a contractual obligation. That's it. Not paying for the musicians is equivalent of sending an actor out on the road and not paying them per diem. It's in the contract. Or not paying for an IATSE carpenter. You may not like paying it, but you have to. (2) But what if a show doesn't need 19 musicians? Well, that's what the "Special Situations" clause comes in. Before the 1990's, shows that only used fewer musicians than the minimum had to hire walkers, which were musicians who didn't play, but were on the payroll to meet the minimum. One notable example was A CHORUS LINE who paid walkers for years. (3) But wait, isn't that the grossest example of featherbedding? Well, perhaps. But that's what the Special Situations clause eliminated. A producer can apply for an exemption. They have to argue their case to a neutrally balanced panel, and it is either approved or not approved. If contested, it can go to binding arbitration. Since the special situations clause came into effect there have been no walkers. Let me repeat that, there have been no musicians paid NOT to play on Broadway for over thirty years. PS: I've never met a musician who would have wanted to be a walker. Anyone who thinks we would want to be paid not to play is demeaning the years of training and practice that we do to get where we are. Musicians want a chance to play, and that is why these minimums exist. (4) Hold on, there's no way anyone would approve a special situation for a Broadway musical? Wouldn't that piss off the union? Actually, lots of shows have exemptions. Here's some you might not have heard of: MAMMA MIA played for years at the Winter Garden under the minimum with no walkers. If you can believe, it, HAMILTON has a special exemption. Maybe even more surprising, David Byrne's own AMERICAN UTOPIA had an exemption. (5) So, what's the problem with HERE LIES LOVE? The problem is that the producers of HERE LIES LOVE don't think they are going to get approved for the special situation exemption and they are taking it to the public and framing their choice to ignore a contractual obligation as a restriction of their freedom of artistic choice. They have accused the musicians' union with "gate-keeping" and are refusing to hire musicians. Conclusion: people can agree to disagree whether minimums (1) Are fair rules to protect jobs and the artistic integrity of Broadway musicals or (2) Union featherbedding that inhibit artistic freedom. But that is not what this controversy is about. It's simply a real estate contract for which the producers are not abiding. |
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| Link | Robert Meffe page |
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