The Great White Way will not go dark after all, after two unions that had authorized strike votes—while talks bogged down over healthcare and wages—instead came to separate contract agreements with the Broadway League, which represents theater owners.
The American Federation of Musicians Local 802 and the Actors’ Equity Association represent more than 50,000 workers combined, who were ready to walk off the job if the negotiations failed. The majority of them belong to the latter union, which represents a range of professions including actors, dancers, singers, and stage managers.
It would have been the first time since March of 2003 that such a large-scale strike would’ve occurred on Broadway; that four-day episode came to a stop after then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg brought all parties together at Gracie Mansion for an all-night bargaining session.
Both unions had fairly similar demands on some points, despite arriving at separate strike authorizations earlier this month. The musicians union—which voted to authorize around Oct. 1—were seeking fair wages that “reflect Broadway’s success,” better health coverage, employment and income security, and the preservation of in-house contracting.
The Actors’ Equity Association, meanwhile, was seeking the following: better scheduling and paid time off, more money paid toward health insurance, and safe staffing levels.
The musicians union won concessions they found acceptable at practically the last second, just before they were set to stop work on Thursday, Oct. 23. “United in solidarity, Local 802 Broadway musicians are thrilled to announce that we reached a tentative agreement at 4:30 a.m. with the Broadway League that will avert a strike scheduled to begin later today,” union president Robert Suttmann told the press.
“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,” he added.
The Actors’ Equity Union, meanwhile, earned suitable-enough concessions from the Broadway League by Oct. 19.
“After a marathon mediation session lasting until 6 a.m., Equity and the Broadway League have reached a tentative agreement on the production contract,” union president Al Vincent Jr. said in a statement to the press then. He pointed out that there would be scheduling improvements and access to physical therapy for his members.
Both unions had cited Broadway’s historic recent run as being a large part of their rationale for authorizing strike votes, reasoning that they were being under-compensated given the newly abundant coffers of the Broadway League owners.
In the 2024-25 season, Broadway saw a record $11.89 million worth of gross revenue, as well as 14.9 million show attendees. It’s certainly a remarkable financial rebound from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, when much of the famed theater district was shuttered and it was slow to recover when the theaters reopened.
If the strikes went through, Broadway would have gone generally dark. According to a piece published by Playbill on Oct. 14, “every show on Broadway would [have] shut down save for Ragtime, Punch, and Little Bear Ridge Road.”
This would been due to the genuinely unique structure of these particular shows: “The musical Ragtime and the play Punch are under the LORT [League of Resident Theatres] contract, which is used for regional theaters and nonprofits that produce on Broadway. The play Little Bear Ridge Road is independently produced by Scott Rudin, who is not a member of the Broadway League, and uses no musicians.”