Broadway strike talks to resume

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Stagehands and Broadway producers are to resume talks in New York to try and resolve a contract dispute.

Stagehands, who work with lighting, sound and scenery, walked out on Saturday in a disagreement over pay and working conditions.

More than 25 plays and musicals have been cancelled, including The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia and Chicago.

Talks will resume this weekend, both parties announced in a joint statement.

The dispute has largely been over work rules that govern how many stagehands must be called for work, how long they work, and what kind of tasks they can perform.

Flexibility

The existing contract requires theatres to use at least four stagehands for both musicals and plays.

The League of American Theatres and Producers wants more flexibility in those rules to avoid paying for workers who are not needed.

The strike comes at one of Broadway's busiest times of the year, and analysts say there is pressure to resolve the dispute before the Thanksgiving holiday next weekend.

The theatre league says the strike is costing about $17m (£8.3m) every day.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the forthcoming talks were "a very important step forward," and reiterated his willingness "to help resolve these disagreements and let the shows go on".

The last strike to hit Broadway was in 2003 when musicians walked out for four days.