A local musicians’ union says the Broadway Theater is contractually obligated to employ 19 instrumentalists
Broadway musicians aren’t happy with the plans for David Byrne’s upcoming production, Here Lies Love. A labor union that represents Broadway musicians opposes the production’s decision to use pre-recorded tracks instead of a live band in the musical, which is set to have previews next month.
Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians told The New York Times that it has a contract with the Broadway League that requires musicals at the Broadway Theatre to employ 19 musicians, a quota that is not being met with Byrne’s play about the former First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos. (There are currently no full-time instrumentalists on the project.)
“We’re not going to stand by and let this happen,” Tino Gagliardi, the union’s president, told the Times. “It’s not fair to the public.”
Byrne’s production has been working toward getting the Broadway League to categorize the musical as a “special situation” that would allow for a smaller team of musicians, per the Times. Here Lies Love‘s spokesman Adrian Bryan-Brown said that it is waiting for a decision from the League, but will “continue to work in good faith” with the union until a decision is ultimately made.
“Since Here Lies Love was first conceived 17 years ago, every production has been performed to prerecorded track; this is part of the karaoke genre inherent to the musical and the production concept,” Bryan-Brown, told the Times. “The music for Here Lies Love was inspired by the phenomena of ‘track acts,’ which allowed club audiences to keep dancing, much like this production aims to do.”
The dance-filled play is scheduled to begin previews on June 17 and open July 20 with Byrne co-writing the music with Fatboy Slim. The musical had previously made off-Broadway appearances in Seattle in London.
According to the Times, Broadway shows have been staged with smaller orchestras. Tony Award winner Contact featured a smaller orchestra, as did Priscilla Queen of the Desert in 2011.
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