Nov 25, 2007 9:56 pm US/Mountain
Broadway Breakthrough: Strike May End Soon
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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According to striking stagehands, a deal is very close to being worked out that would end the three week strike.
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Striking stagehands say they are very close to a deal that would end the three week walk-out that has closed dozens of Broadway shows. At the time this article was written, talks were still taking place, but there were reports the Broadway strike could end before daybreak.
"Hopefully there will be a deal tonight," said Local One spokesman Bruce Cohen.
Cohen told CBS station WCBS-TV in New York City give and take is happening on both sides of the bargaining table. The marathon session started Sunday morning after the last round of talks broke off a week ago.
"Our people have their spreadsheets open, calculators going and I would assume the other side is all on the hopes of trying to come to conclusion," added Cohen.
Progress has certainly been made, but no deal yet that will get strike flyers down off doors and curtains back up again.
About two dozens shows are shut down, among them 'Spring Awakening.' Tickets for that show were in the hands of Joe and Peggy Schierl visiting from Minneapolis.
"It would have been nice if we could have seen the show we came to see," the Schierls told WCBS-TV.
They saw 'Xanadu' instead, one of the few Broadway shows that stayed on during the strike because of a different contract with stagehands.
"We never expected it to go this long," said Lisa Kimuyu.
Lisa and Johnson Kimuyu brought their kids to a Theater District restaurant struggling to stay open and not lay off workers. The restaurant owners plan to keep offering a 15 percent discount to boost business.
"[The discount] helped a little bit," said Brazil Brazil restaurant owner Antonia Velarde. "But it is not the same."
As long as negotiators for Producers and Stagehands keeping downing coffee and sticking with it, an imminent resolution is the great hope on the great white way.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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