NEW YORK (AP / WCBS 880) -- Striking stagehands and Broadway producers are going back to the bargaining table, less than a week before the start of the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday weekend when most plays and musicals experience a box-office bonanza.
Negotiations will resume this weekend ``at an undisclosed place and time,'' the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the League of American Theatres said Wednesday. ``No comment from either organization will be issued until further notice,'' both sides said in a joint statement.
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Was there pressure to return to the talks before Thanksgiving, when the city is filled with visitors here for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the start of the Christmas shopping season?
``It was a factor,'' said Norman Samnick, an entertainment lawyer who specializes in labor relations for Bryan Cave LLP. ``It doesn't surprise me that this is happening. What the end-all will be, I have no idea. But somebody is going to give a little; somebody is going to take a little.''
The announcement ``is a very important step forward,'' said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who reiterated his willingness ``to help resolve these disagreements and let the shows go on.''
The stagehands walked off the job Saturday, shutting down 27 Broadway plays and musicals.
All week, the mood along Broadway has been one of resignation and gloom - with stagehands picketing in front of padlocked theaters, actors unable to perform, and press agents, whose union supports the stagehands, told not to promote their struck shows.
On Thursday, cast members and the producers of ``The Seafarer,'' Conor McPherson's Irish drama, will have dinner together at an undisclosed restaurant. It was to have been the show's opening night.
Aaron Sorkin's ``The Farnsworth Invention'' missed its Wednesday opening, which has not yet been rescheduled. The play, about the birth of television, stars Hank Azaria.
Also shut down in preview performances were ``August: Osage County,'' Tracy Letts' family drama from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company; ``Is He Dead?'' an adaptation by David Ives of a comedy by Mark Twain; and Disney's ``The Little Mermaid.'' Their openings, too, remain uncertain.
The contract dispute has focused on how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running. Stagehands move scenery, lights, sound systems and props into the theater; install the set and make sure it works; and keep everything functioning well for the life of the production.
The existing contract requires theaters to use at least four stagehands for plays: a carpenter, a property master, an electrician and a fourth, either a sound technician, a fly man or another stagehand. A musical also requires four stagehands, and mandates a fly man - the person in charge of raising and lowering the curtain, and anything else, such as scenery that moves up or down, or from offstage.
The league wants to have flexibility in how many stagehands are hired for shows, and does not want to use four if all are not needed.
STATEMENT from Mayor Bloomberg on announcement of new talks: "Today's announcement that talks have been scheduled between Local One and The League of American Theaters and Producers is a very important step forward. I spoke with both sides again today and reiterated that we will provide any help we can to help resolve these disagreements and let the shows go on."
Could the Broadway work stoppage spread to touring companies of major musical hits such as ``Wicked'' or ``Jersey Boys''?
No one, not the union nor the producers, is talking on the record about what might be the next step in Local 1's battle with the League of American Theatres and Producers. Such a move would need the endorsement of the local's parent union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
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It would seriously undermine producers since such megahits as ``Wicked'' and ``Jersey Boys'' on the road regularly pull down weekly grosses of $1 million or more.
The current walkout by stagehands, which has shut down more than two dozen Broadway theaters, entered its fourth day Tuesday with no end in sight.
``It's going to be a day-to-day thing,'' said Norman Samnick, an entertainment lawyer who specializes in labor relations for Bryan Cave LLP. ``Once a strike starts, it's very hard to stop the rock from rolling downhill.''
Shows have been canceled through the Wednesday matinees, according to Alan Cohen, a league spokesman. ``We will deal with the Wednesday evening performance on Tuesday,'' he said.
No talks have been planned. Not even an offer from Mayor Michael Bloomberg to provide assistance has been accepted.
``The idea is to get them back to the table,'' Samnick said. ``The question is: What is going to get them to that table? As a result of this (the strike), there are going to be a lot more hard feelings.''
Local 1 walked out Saturday without much notice, shutting down 27 plays and musicals and causing confusion on what is the busiest theatergoing day of the week.
The union includes more than just the men and women who move the scenery and props; it also represents a show's electricians, carpenters and sound people. They work for the theater itself and are paid for the duration of a show's run.
The contract dispute has focused on how many stagehands are required to open a show and keep it running. That means moving scenery, lights, sound systems and props into the theater; installing the set and making sure it works; and keeping everything functioning well for the life of the production.
Theater owners and producers want to be able to hire only the number of stagehands they think they'll need for an individual show. For example, a play with one set might not require as many stagehands as a large-scale musical with many scene changes or special effects. The union wants to maintain its rules on how many stagehands are hired, how they work and for how long; it wants a specific number hired for each show.
Eight Broadway shows that have separate contracts with the union remained open and were doing strong business. Among the attractions still running are ``Young Frankenstein,'' ``Mary Poppins,'' ``Xanadu'' and ``The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,'' as well as four shows - ``Pygmalion,'' ``The Ritz,'' ``Mauritius'' and ``Cymbeline'' - playing at nonprofit theaters.
Meanwhile, the league has put together a Web site, www.ILoveNYTheater.com, which will be updated daily with new information about how to exchange tickets or get refunds for canceled shows.
 The following Broadway shows are still running:
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
MARY POPPINS
XANADU
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
MAURITIUS
PYGMALION
THE RITZ
CYMBELINE
27 Broadway shows not running:
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
AVENUE Q
A BRONX TALE
CHICAGO
A CHORUS LINE
THE COLOR PURPLE
CURTAINS
DR. SUESS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
DURAN DURAN
THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION
IS HE DEAD?
JERSEY BOYS
LES MISERABLES
MAMMA MIA!
MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
ROCK 'N' ROLL
THE SEAFARER
SPRING AWAKENING
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
THE DROWSY CHAPERONE
GREASE
HAIRSPRAY
LEGALLY BLONDE
THE LITTLE MERMAID
THE LION KING
RENT
WICKED
Still want to see a show? The following are current off Broadway shows
Altar Boyz (New World Stages)
The Awesome 80s Prom (Webster Hall)
Blue Man Group (Astor Place Theatre)
The Brothers Size (The Public Theater)
Celia: The Musical (New World Stages)
Die Mommie Die! (New World Stages)
Edge (Bleecker Street Theatre)
The Fantasticks (Snapple Theater Center)
A Feminine Ending (Playwrights Horizons)
Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening (47th Street Theatre)
Frankenstein (37 Arts)
Fuerzabruta (Daryl Roth Theatre)
Gazillion Bubble Show (New World Stages)
The Glorious Ones (Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater)
Gone Missing (Barrow Street Theatre)
Greetings from Yorkville (Soho Playhouse)
Hoodoo Love (Cherry Lane Theatre)
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (Westside Theatre)
The Joy Luck Club (Julia Miles Theatre)
Jump (Union Square Theatre)
Make Me a Song (New World Stages)
The Misanthrope (New York Theatre Workshop)
My First Time (New World Stages)
My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in Therapy! (Westside Theatre)
Naked Boys Singing! (New World Stages)
Ohio State Murders (The Duke on 42nd Street)
The Overwhelming (Laura Pels Theatre)
Perfect Crime (Snapple Theater Center)
Peter and Jerry (Second Stage Theatre)
The Piano Teacher (Vineyard Theatre)
Pumpgirl (City Center)
Queens Boulevard (The Musical) (Peter Norton Space)
The Receptionist (City Center Stage 1)
Richard III (East 13th Street Theatre)
The Rise of Dorothy Hale (St. Luke's Theatre)
The Screwtape Letters (Theatre at St. Clement's)
The Sensuous Woman (Zipper Theater)
Sive (Irish Repertory Theatre)
Spain (Lucille Lortel Theatre)
Stomp (Orpheum Theatre)
Things We Want (Acorn Theater)
Three Mo' Tenors (Little Shubert Theatre)
Tings Dey Happen (Culture Project)
Walmartopia (Minetta Lane Theatre)
The Wooster Group’s Hamlet (Public Theater)
If you have tickets to a Broadway show that will not run, click HERE for instructions on how to receive a refund for your ticket.
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