In the news today is a story about the Broadway Musician's Union being on strike against the use of "virtual orchestras". The actors and stagehands won't cross the picket lines either, shutting down Broadway indefinitely. The Musicians want a minimum number of musicians required for each stage performance making it too costly for a theatre to use a virtual orchestra. Some theatres have paid musicians NOT to play so they can use virtual orchestras for rehearsals and showtime. My opinion is that if a theatre can attract an audience with a virtual orchestra and survive.........then so be it. Let technology prevail. However a "live" orchestra adds so much more than a virtual orchestra can. I think audiences should decide what they want to pay for. This seems to parallel the motion picture industry before talkies. How many live orchestras or pit bands did the Mighty Wurlitzer replace? Only the biggest of movie houses could afford the real thing.
Today there are more DJ's doing wedding receptions than live bands. More and more bars and nightclubs are using far less musicians than in the past. How should we embrace new technology when it has the possibility of replacing someone elses livelyhood? Your thoughts..........charley

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/07/broadway.strike.reut/index.html

26 person orchestras? How pathetic. Producers are arguing "creative control," but since when did producers give creative input? Their roll is strictly financial.

Whatever, I hate musicals and musical theater anyway. I just love orchestras.

I think there's something to be said for the authenticity of real orchestras. No matter how good your synthesizer is, it can't stand up to a real acoustic sound (unless, of course, you're using a real synth lead or pad, rarely used in musicals anyway). I know sometimes synthesizers are an advantage - my high school just used a few in our production of Once On This Island because we didn't have enough people to learn things like all the steel drum parts - but I would've rather had more of the real thing if we could have.

Cloakboy, how come you hate musicals and theater? Acting (and teching and pit, too) are so much fun!

Because I'm a cantankerous old bastard who is lactose intolerant and can't stand CHEESE.

Wouldn't you know it .... I have two FRONT row CENTER seats for Les Mis THIS Wednesday !
Those bastards better resolve their issues before then. I hate unions.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry after reading that!

They are refunding the ticket prices, but I paid a premium to get those terrific seats, so I'll loose about $60, and miss my favorite show.
I had a talk with a good friend tonight (a theater player for many years) and we both think this will do irreparable damage to the music biz as we know it. The union has just sealed it's fate and the future of live music has been forever compromised.

Here's the scoop:

For many years, the union has had "required numbers" of players for each pit orchestra, but often, the contractor has taken the salaries for, say, 23 musicians .... only used 10 or 12, and collected the full amount of money for all 23 allotted players. SOMEbody was taking money for seats that were not being used.
After many years of this abuse .... the theater groups started requesting fewer and fewer pit musicians. It is very common to see 2 keyboard players in a Broadway pit instead of a dozen string players today.

The latest demand was that the number of "live" players be reduced to about 7 (as a minimum) ..... and that's where the players called it quits. A few days later, the actors went out to support them. Now, Broadway is dark, and 42nd street is silent.
"C'mon along and listen to .... the requiem of Broadway ...."

This will just ruin everything. They should have compromised slowly and taken a small hit, and accept maybe, 15 players this year, and then 12 in 3 years, whatever. To just walk out was nuts. This will solidify the position that NO one needs these prima-donnas at all. Pay for ONE good session, record the tracks and get it perfect everytime. This will be the new mentality ...... all due in part, to the rise in KARAOKE type entertainment. Fast food mentality.

It's always been about the singers anyway ..... who needs the band? Keep 'em in the wings, or under the stage ..... or IN A BOX, for that matter. (Sad, but true)

This is sad. It's very, very sad. We, as artists need to recognize that our business is NOT a life and death occupation. We don't matter THAT much to the survival of mankind. Sure, we add beauty and grace to an otherwise cold, bland world ....but face it - ARTISTS are a luxury. We provide a service that is needed only by the soul. We need to stay in touch with the real reason that the art is necessary, and forget about the money sometimes. These union players have just screwed 18 shows out of MILLIONS of dollars of revenue, disappointed THOUSANDS of show-goers (ME included) and made a case for the whining, crying, egos that fuel them into thinking that THEY deserve these jobs. No job is THAT secure, and a job in the arts is a PRIVILEGE.

I am so steamed, and very saddened by all this. Unions had a place .... LONG ago, but in todays world - they are out of date and UNfair in general. Especially when nurses can walk out on strike, and compromise someone's health over money issues ........ something is very wrong. I hate to admit it, but when my generation dies (the Baby Boomers) there will be virtually NO real players left and NO audience that wants to pay to see one perform anyway. How many 25 year olds go to the symphony these days? How many kids are playing bassoon and oboe in the public school band? It's a dying artform, and electronics are creating a generation of "loopers" and "pasters" that think they are creating music.

I lost my second wife 6 months ago..............I can handle that.
The Redhead disappeared over a month ago ............... I'll survive.
My van was totaled last October ........ No problem, I got a new one

BUT - when they take away the theater, and screw me out of one of the few true pleasures that sofisticated society still has to offer ................ That really hurts.
Music died a little more today, thanks to selfish, lazy Egomaniacs that think they are ABOVE the art.

Uncle Dave, you read internet bulletin boards dedicated to electronic music too much. Yes, there's a huge glut of copy and paste Acid kiddies out there, but there's still a shitload of kids playing bassoon and french horn, etc.

I wrote a couple paragraphs refuting your claims, but I don't want to get in trouble for starting a flame war again, so from here on in, I'm just going to post pictures when I feel the need to reply to something.

Ah..those wacky unions! We liked ours so much we decertified them!!!!

"One time at band camp........."