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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Musicians’ Walkout Continues Seattle Theater Shows ‘Beast’ With Replacement Musicians

Associated Press

As striking musicians and union supporters chanted and paraded outside, the 5th Avenue Theatre on Thursday night raised the curtain on “Beauty and the Beast” with replacement musicians.

Meanwhile, contract talks between the theater company and American Federation of Musicians Local 76-493 resumed Thursday afternoon at a nearby hotel. Both sides were asked not to talk to the media about the status of the negotiations.

Theater spokesman Dan McConnell said the talks recessed for the night and would resume Friday. He could not discuss specifics.

The Walt Disney stage musical was to have opened Feb. 12. Wednesday night’s first scheduled performance with nonunion musicians was canceled due to a bomb scare. No bomb was found and police don’t know who made the threat.

Thursday night’s performance began a few minutes after its scheduled 7:30 p.m. start, McConnell said. Approximately 2,000 tickets had been sold for the performance and there were 300 exchanges and 200 refunds.

“We’ve got about 1,500 people inside the theater enjoying the show,” he said.

Protesters packed up their picket signs and left the front of the downtown theater at about 8 p.m.

In a statement issued Thursday before the news blackout, the musicians’ union called the bomb threat “an unfortunate incident.”

“The union and its supporters have no interest in using bomb threats to advance our cause,” the statement said.

The musicians were seeking $106 per three-hour performance. The theater offered $96, a $3 increase from the contract that expired at the end of last year, but union leaders said “take-aways” made the offer a net loss in pay.

Fifteen out-of-town replacement musicians were hired this week. The strike, along with the bomb scare, led to the cancellation of the first eight performances.

The show was scheduled to run from Feb. 13 to April 6.

The theater said the run has been extended to April 27. It said it hired the replacement musicians for the entire run at the same rate being paid to the local musicians prior to the strike.