The union representing Broadway musicians reached a tentative deal on a new contract, its leadership said early Thursday, averting a potential strike that would have impacted nearly two dozen high-profile musicals.
The strike had been slated to start as early as Thursday morning if the union that represents musicians, American Federation of Musicians Local 802, and the Broadway League couldn’t come to an agreement.
Details on the new contract weren’t immediately clear.
Local 802 President Bob Suttmann announced the development on X. He said the tentative agreement was reached at 4:30 a.m., hours before the strike was set to start.
“This three-year agreement provides meaningful wage and health benefit increases that will preserve crucial access to healthcare for our musicians while maintaining the strong contract protections that empower musicians to build a steady career on Broadway,” Suttmann said.
A strike would have impacted every production on Broadway that uses musicians (except “Ragtime” — which is under a different contract with Lincoln Center).
These productions would have gone dark under the strike:
- & Juliet
- Aladdin
- Beetlejuice
- Book of Mormon
- Buena Vista
- Chess
- Chicago
- Death Becomes Her
- Gatsby
- Hadestown
- Hamilton
- Hells Kitchen
- Just in Time
- Lion King
- Mamma Mia
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Mincemeat
- MJ
- Moulin Rouge
- Outsiders
- Queen of Versailles
- Six
- Wicked
It was the second Broadway labor deal in less than a week. Labor tensions had already seemed cool after Actors’ Equity Association — which represents over 51,000 members, including singers, actors, dancers and stage managers — announced a new three-year agreement with producers over the weekend.
Members of both unions had been working under expired contracts. The musicians’ contract expired on Aug. 31, and the Equity contract expired Sept. 28.
The health of Broadway — once very much in doubt due to the coronavirus pandemic that shut down theaters for some 18 months — is now very good, at least in terms of box office. It has been a long road back from the days when theaters were shuttered and the future looked bleak, but the 2024-2025 season took in $1.9 billion — the highest-grossing season in recorded history, overtaking the pre-pandemic previous high of $1.8 billion during the 2018-2019 season.
The unions pointed to the financial health of Broadway to argue that producers could afford to up pay and benefits for musicians and actors. Producers, represented by The Broadway League, had countered that the restored health of Broadway could be endangered by potential ticket price increases to accommodate the demands.
The most recent major strike on Broadway was in late 2007, when a 19-day walkout by stagehands dimmed the lights on more than two dozen shows and cost producers and the city millions of dollars in lost revenue.
On Wednesday, three U.S. senators from New York and New Jersey — Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Andy Kim — wrote to both sides, urging them to “participate in good faith negotiations and continued communication.” The senators noted that Broadway supports nearly 100,000 jobs and is “an essential cornerstone in the economic well-being of surrounding businesses and sectors, including hospitality, retail and transportation.”
