Allegro

Bay Street Theatre Bans Machine

Volume CIV, No. 9September, 2004

Mary Donovan

Local 802 has reached a two-year collective bargaining agreement with the Bay Street Theatre that includes a ban on the virtual orchestra machine.

Bay Street is a nonprofit 299-seat theatre on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor (Long Island). Founded in 1991, the theatre is an important cultural institution that produces numerous musicals throughout its season.

Many of the productions that premiered or were developed at Bay Street have moved to Broadway and Off Broadway, regionally and abroad. A few shows listed in their credits include “Nobody Don’t Like Yogi,” “Swingtime Canteen,” “Love, Janis,” and “The Boyfriend.”

For the past several years, Local 802 has negotiated individual show agreements when the theatre hired our members. With the new agreement, every show will now be union.

The Bay Street Theatre rose to the union’s challenge to save live music and ban the virtual orchestra machine, which is now memoralized in the two-year agreement.

The theatre’s upcoming season includes “Once On This Island,” and “A Christmas Carol.”