Industry Pro Newsletter: Unionization Takes a Step Forward at Star Gardens

Questions of access continue to be discussed after an incident at Hadestown last week, ultimately highlighting that there is a deep need for more education around the topic for everyone involved. In the UK, educational access for school children is becoming more challenging than ever before with cuts to funding for those trips. But we lead off this week's Industry Trends section with a great update from Cara Joy David on the unionization effort of the Star Gardens Topless Dive Bar and how that push factors into the wider plans for unionization pushes from Actors Equity Association.

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Industry Trends

Star Garden Dancers One Step Closer to Joining Equity by Cara Joy David

Last week Actors' Equity announced that it was one step closer to unionizing the dancers at Star Garden Topless Dive Bar-the National Labor Relations Board approved a petition for a union recognition election. In other words, if the dancers (and DJs) want a union, they can join one by voting.

This may seem like it should be an automatic process, but much has gone on since Equity first started fighting for this unionization in August. There was discovery, a hearing and more-it was a process.

Star Garden Topless Dive Bar contested the NLRB's jurisdiction because it claimed not to have $500,000 in gross revenues and not to substantially affect interstate commerce (both of which are required for the NLRB to have jurisdiction). A regional director from the NLRB shot down both of these arguments, found that the NLRB could in fact rule on this matter and approved the petition requesting a unionization vote. But, a day after the Actors' Equity release went out, Star Garden Topless Dive Bar asked for special permission to appeal the ruling, stating it had not been given the opportunity to contest just how many people would be part of the unionization voting pool. The ruling asked for names and addresses of 19 people, but Star Garden said only a maximum of six were employees eligible to vote. The petitioners have opposed the review application. It seems unlikely that this challenge will alter the substantive outcome of the decision. Right now, if matters stand as they are, we're less than a month away from Star Garden's adult dancers (aka strippers) and DJs voting on whether to become members of Actors' Equity.

The decision to unionize these adult dancers has been met with a significant amount of controversy, with many Equity members speaking out against it. It is however part of a larger effort from Equity-as explained to BroadwayWorld, Equity is now aiming to organize several previously unaffiliated groups. (Only one other has been announced thus far: the lecturers at the Griffith Observatory Planetarium.)

"The efforts to organize non-Equity tours or theaters that haven't started using Equity contracts at all is ongoing," Actors' Equity President Kate Shindle said in an interview. "But we've also started talking to groups of workers who come to us, or sometimes even individual workers who come to us, and say: 'I am performing, it's live and I would like for this work to be union.'"

BroadwayWorld is working on an upcoming feature on Equity's larger organizing efforts. Keep your eye out for it!

Engaging the BroadwayWorld Audience on a Budget

BroadwayWorld is proud to be the world's largest theatre site, and our reach goes far beyond Manhattan - we have coverage in over 100 US Cities and 45 International markets, which means that our audience is not only looking for Broadway information - they want to know about local shows as well. We offer a number of different ways that you can get your show information in front of our audience, so make sure you're taking advantage of each of these free ways to get that information out there. Click here to read more...

Broadway/New York

Jujamcyn and Hadestown Issue Apology for Incident With Audience Member

Following an incident involving a hard-of-hearing audience member, Hadestown and Jujamcyn have issued an apology. Samantha Coleman, who identifies as Deafblind, was scolded for using a captioning device that was mistaken for a recording device while seeing a production of Hadestown. The GalaPro system, which uses an audience member's phone while darkening the screen to limit light, is the most popular on Broadway. However, from the stage, it can appear like someone is using their phone or taking a recording. Click here to read more...

Benson and Peponides to Depart SoHo Rep

After serving the influential Off Broadway theater for 15 and 8 years, respectively, two of Soho Rep's three directors, Sarah Benson and Meropi Peponides, will retire at the conclusion of the current season. After working together on a lengthy list of dramatic achievements, Benson and Peponides depart Soho Rep at a time of artistic vitality and organizational strength. They have made the decision to go in the spirit of a theater that has repeatedly reinvented itself so that two new leaders can plan the company's future and its contributions to American theater and the civic life of New York City. Click here to read more...

Regional

Regional Awards Nomination Period Ends October 31

The nomination period for the BroadwayWorld Regional Awards will be open until 11:59pm on October 31 - and once the nomination period closes, our editors will proof the list for eligibility and errors before voting goes live during November. Click here to read more...

Justin Waldman Named Artistic Director at Two River Theater

Justin Waldman has been appointed as the new artistic director of Two River Theater. After working at The Old Globe Theatre for eleven years. He will be in charge of the 2022-2023 season of Two River Theater, which was put together during the transition by outgoing artistic director John Dias and managing director Michael Hurst. Beginning in the fall of 2023, Waldman will be fully responsible for selecting the programming for Two River. Two River is still looking for a Managing Director and anticipates making an announcement later this fall. Click here to read more...

With Resignation, Merrimack Rep Moves to a Single Leadership Model

In order to work on other endeavors, Bonnie J. Butkas, Executive Director of Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT), announced her resignation on Wednesday, October 12, 2022. The board unanimously decided to switch to a single leadership structure following Butkas' resignation, and Courtney Sale has been appointed to the Nancy L. Donahue Executive Artistic Director position. Click here to read more...

International

School Trips to the Theatre "More Challenging than Ever"

School field trips to the theater are "more tough than it has ever been" due to cash-strapped families' reduced finances, rising travel expenses, and the pandemic's continued effects, top venues have warned. The warning was released at the same time as UK Theatre and the Society of London Theatre revealed a new plan to revive school theater programs after a decline since the pandemic's start. Click here to read more...

Missed our last few newsletters?

October 11, 2022 - Theatres Aim to Hold True to Their Values, Some Audiences Are Being Left Behind

In the midst of the wider labor movement across the economy, theatre workers continue to fight for their own rights to a safe and non-abusive workplace. As theatres work to return to the new normal, we continue to find new ways in which the industry needs to find improvements on the way that they treat those that are creating the art - we have arrived at the "rubber meets the road" moment for every theatre that issued statements about their ideals in the past few years. We also received a new wrinkle in that conversation this week as more details emerged about the development process of Goodnight, Oscar - with excellent reporting first on the BroadwayWorld site by Cara Joy David, and continued below in this newsletter. Click here to read more...

October 3, 2022 - Broadway Lawsuits Find Resolution, Garret Receives Death Threats

Settlement was the word of the week on Broadway, with both the Rudin/SpotCo suit and JPP/Wagner Johnson lawsuits finding resolution through settlement - the latter is the subject of a new regular feature for this newsletter from our Industry Editor Cara Joy David. On the regional front, we continue to explore the challenges of reopening - from new audience trends in the Chicago market to the far more serious death threats received by Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Nataki Garret. Click here to read more...

September 26, 2022 - Checking in on Industry Evolution, Gender Pay Gap in the UK Closing

Stories of transformation highlight the newsletter this week - with two different stories below - one looking at the evolution of Broadway, the other examining how Regional Theatres are transforming. Both are asking questions in light of the work done by We See You White American Theatre and other, wider racial justice protests that have occured over the past few years, alongside an increasingly powerful moment for the American labor movement. We've discussed many times in this newsletter how the industry is at a crossroads, and both articles serve as a strong check in on where the industry is in its development toward a more equitable future. Click here to read more...

BroadwayWorld Resources

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