Irish Play Suffers on Broadway

Advertise • Help • Contact Us • Permissions

Discussions Groups Events Blogs Photos Premium Irish Circle

Edit Profile Friends Requests Messages Updates

Discussions Groups Events Photos Blogs Irish Pubs Local Networks Expat Info GAA Clubs Rugby Clubs Dating Worldwide

Working in Ireland Working Abroad Currency Converter Jobs Ireland Banking Ireland Irish Sites

Info Ireland Vacation Packages Hotels Car Rental Golf Ferries Hostels Day Tours

Irish Name Register Passenger Lists Screensavers Advice & Resources

Irish News Music & Songs Recipes Proverbs e-Postcards History & Archaeology Heritage & Culture Mythology Irish Studies Literature Gaelic

Gifts & Jewellery Books Music Food Heraldry Clothes Other

Irish Voice

Columnists

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Read newsletters

Enter your e-mail address to receive our weekly e-Newsletter:

Irish Voice News

Irish Play Suffers on Broadway

November 15, 2007

By Cahir O’Doherty

THE opening night of Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s latest Broadway play The Seafarer, which was scheduled for Thursday, November 15, has been postponed until further notice because of the Broadway stagehands strike.

The Seafarer, which was already in previews before the strike hit, features well known Irish actors Ciaran Hinds, Conleth Hill and Jim Norton and is considered the season’s highest profile play. Observers are now predicting that Broadway may be in for a long and costly dispute before McPherson’s show gets back on the boards.

Over two dozen Broadway shows went dark last weekend as the stagehands, who are engaged in a long running and bitter contract dispute with producers, went on strike. The dispute is over long-established work rules, which the producers claim are out of date and expensive.

Local Irish bars and restaurants in the Times Square area are also bracing for the steep drop in revenue that accompanies the drop in ticket sales. At the Pig and Whistle on West 47th Street barman and Co. Longford native Brendan Donoghue expressed concern about the strike news dampening the spirits of the Thanksgiving holiday crowds.

“We haven’t noticed a great drop off yet, we’re still getting a lot of Irish and British tourists because the euro is high against the dollar,” said Donoghue. “But on Thursday and Friday’s shows I’m certain we’ll notice the difference with less people coming in from the suburbs.”

Charlotte St. Martin, president of the League of American Theaters and Producers, said the strike couldn’t come at a worse time of year. The first show to be cancelled by the strike was How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and St. Martin suggested that the irony should not be lost on the public.

Added barman Donoghue, “This strike looks like its got to some teeth to it. I’m sure there’s going to be a drop off in business because Thanksgiving is when we depend on the suburban crowd, and they’ve all got the message that there’s 25 shows that have gone dark.”

Billed as a “chilling new play about the sea, Ireland, and the power of myth,” The Seafarer completed a successful run at London’s National Theatre before making the eventual transfer to Broadway, where it was playing in previews when the strike began.

“I’m confident that if we get a chance to open, it should be all right,” McPherson told the Associated Press. “We’ll just keep our fingers crossed and pray — pray that the testosterone levels drop on both sides of the strike and see how it goes.”

Share this story: digg this | Add to del.icio.us

Print Save Discussions

Discuss

Email a friend