A Highly Visible Strike

“Strikes by performing artists are rare, and the public reaction to them is usually quite different from the reaction to strikes by others, like steelworkers or construction workers. Broadway is a highly visible business, important to New York’s image and economy, and the public, not just New Yorkers but tourists from across the country, will pay great attention to this strike. It is not clear whether the public, in this case theatergoers, will buy the musicians’ argument that a minimum number of musicians are needed to maintain the vitality of pit orchestras or the producers’ argument that smaller orchestras — and perhaps virtual, electronic orchestras — might be acceptable to improve the economics of producing musicals and to help more survive.”