Uh oh. The lights on Broadway could be turned off as early as Friday (July 21) since IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union , has called for a strike authorization vote.
Negotiations with The Broadway League and Disney Theatrical have not been successful, and if a shutdown is called, even touring Broadway shows will halt.
The deadline for members to vote is 2 a.m. ET Friday, which means a strike would begin Friday, according to Playbill.com.
However, the strike could be averted if The Broadway League and Disney reps return to the bargaining table before Friday.
The strike would affect about 1,500 union members employed via IATSE’s so-called Pink Contract, which covers stagehands, hair and make-up artists, wardrobe personnel, and others employed directly by productions. The contract covers 28 of 30 currently-running productions.
If the shutdown takes place, IATSE would be the third major entertainment union to go on strike, following the strikes in the film and television industries where union members of SAG-AFTRA and WGA have halted production. It would be particularly devastating within the Broadway fan base, which buys tickets in advance for the live productions on Broadway, if a strike occurs.
The last IATSE strike, the first in union history, was in 2007, and lasted 19 days. …
‘Beauty & the Beast’ at DHT
The enchantment of Disney’s “Beauty & the Beast” will unfold Friday night (July 21) at Diamond Head Theatre. The show, Disney’s first entry to the Broadway world in 1994, is based on Disney’s 1991 animated film, and features music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Time Rice, with a book by Linda Woolvertin.
Emily North will appear as Belle, the Beauty, and David Spangenthal (pictured) will be the prince, or the Beast, who’s caught in a spell, in the fabled “tale as old as time.”
The Beast has to be kissed by Belle to undo the spell, which would trigger a happy ending.
Spangenthal is multi-tasking in this one; he’s also directing and choreographing the show. But he also took on the same responsibilities in DHT’s 2005 production. Clearly, he’s found his true love in the play and in his life. In his director’s notes in the show’s playbill, he notes, “So much has changed in my life. I now have two children, and have grown so much as a person since. I have the opportunity to re-tell this story (with its true love theme) and share the stage with my daughter Lanah (Differt) What a blessing.” (Lanah, Kira Stone and Christine Kluvo appear as The Three Silly Girls).
With his husband Timothy, he is happy to be in a two-daddy family. And his triple-threat roles for “Beauty & the Beast.”
In Disney’s retelling of the story, animated characters emerge, such as the teapot Mrs. Potts, played by Cathy Foy, and the candelabra Lumiere, portrayed by David Sheftell.
Other players include Kyle Malis (Cogsworth), Samuel Budd (Lefou), Maurice “Mo” Radke (Maurice), Alexandria Zion (Babette) and Philex Kepa and Tobias Ng-Osario (alternating as Chip), Azaliah Kekuna (Enchantress) and Joshua-Dwayne Figueroa (Young Prince)
Roslyn Catracchia and Jenny Shiroma are co-musical directors.
“Beauty and the Beast” will run through Aug. 20; some performances are already sold out. Tickets: $37 to $62, at www.diamondheadtheatre.com or (808) 733-027
‘Magnum’ set for an Oct. 4 NBC airing
NBC’s peacock feathers are fluttering.
The good news: NBC has reversed its decision to drop “Magnum P.I.” after airing half the season, and now will resume airing the series at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. on the Mainland) on Wednesdays, beginning Oct. 4. The program was previously seen on Sundays.
“Magnum,” starring Jay Hernandez (Thomas Magnum, pictured left) and Perdita Weeks (Juliet Higgins), have a romance going and logically is continuing; the new time slot follows episodes of “Quantum Leap,” formerly in a Tuesday time slot.
The bad news: NBC is pushing back its legacy shows like the trio of “Chicago” procedurals, along with two “Law and Order” series, until 2024, the delay obviously triggered by the ongoing strike by the WGA, SAG and AFTRA, which has shut down productions of all fall shows.
Since the strike, NBC has decided to push back “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.,” a blow to fans, plus “Law and Order” and “Law and Order SVU,” the latter an indefatigable and enduring brand led by Mariska Hargitay (Olivia Benson, pictured right), also tabled for now.
NBC will have to fill prime time with reruns, even movies, since all series are shuttered.
“Magnum’s” second half of the fifth season will be the last, because the sixth season still is canceled. Because there are new episodes in the vault, the Hawaii-filmed show – without a specific timetable – has earned a fall kick-off. After that, it’s aloha – a fond farewell – for Magnum and his colleagues…
‘Grace and Glorie’
“Grace and Glorie,” a play by Tom Ziegler, will be the next presentation of The Windward Readers Theatre at The Actors Group in Iwilei.
Jo Pruden and Shari Lynn, pictured below, are veteran stage actors and life-long friends, who are regulars in Readers Theatre shows, will be featured, with Marjorie DeSantis as the Narrator. Vanita Rae Smith will direct.
Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the tale focuses on Grace (Pruden), a feisty 90-year-old cancer victim who has checked herself out of a hospital to return to her beloved cottage, where she wants to die alone. Glorie (Shari) is a hospice worker with baggage – guilt-ridden, due to the loss of her daughter – whose life is transformed with new perspectives.
Performance dates are at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7, 8 and 9 at TAG. Tickets: $20 at taghawaii.net…
And that’s Show Biz. …
HI WAYNE,
GOOD THING YOU AND VI PLANNED YOUR TRIP WHEN YOU DID SO YOU COULD SEE SO MANY SHOWS.
GLAD MAGNUM WILL BE BACK!
WILL MISS CHICAGO MD AND FIRE NOT STARTING ON TIME BUT NOT REALLY FOND OF PD.
MOULIN ROUGE WAS HERE FOR A FEW WEEKS, WE GET A LOT OF BROADWAY SHOWS HERE BUT TOO HARDD FOR ME TO TRY AND GO DOWNTOWN IN A WHEELCHAIR TO SEE THEM.
TAKE CARE. ALOHA DOLORES