Strike Cancels ‘Beauty And The Beast’

Another performance of “Beauty and the Beast” at the Fifth Avenue Theatre has been canceled because of a strike by musicians.

Theater officials said Monday that tonight’s performance has been dropped - the seventh cancellation since the planned opening Thursday.

Members of the American Federation of Musicians Local 76-493 went on strike at midnight Wednesday after contract negotiations broke down in a pay dispute.

The union represents 15 of the 19 musicians scheduled to play in the production. The other four are with the traveling stage production.

No talks are scheduled until Thursday, when the two sides plan to sit down with a federal mediator.

Those who bought tickets for canceled performances may exchange their tickets for performances later in the run, which is scheduled to last through April 6.