Do you play on Broadway? If yes, then the Theatre Committee is your committee! Our meetings are open to all Broadway musicians, including subs. If you have any business or concerns you wish to be discussed, contact us at BroadwayTheatreCommittee@gmail.com. The committee meets every other Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. at Local 802. Our meetings in March will be on March 4 and March 18.

Bringing the Broadway community together

It is a golden age for the Broadway musical. Ticket sales are at all-time highs, and exciting new and original theatre works are being produced that continue to push the envelope of the art form. Any given day of the week, theatregoers have an incredibly wide range of shows they can choose to see, representing many different musical genres and styles. It is this musical diversity that makes the Broadway community unique. It is rare to see such a varied community of musicians who each have particular specialties and different personal journeys as can be found on Broadway. Considering this variety and how the Broadway community consists of different bands and orchestras each performing in different theatres all across town, one might wonder how we operate as a cohesive and organized community? For many decades, the Broadway Theatre Committee has been the vehicle by which Broadway musicians have come together and drawn upon our community’s collective breadth of knowledge and diverse perspectives.

More specifically, the Broadway Theatre Committee is the rank-and-file players’ committee that we are entitled to form under both Local 802 and AFM bylaws. Recognized as such, the Theatre Committee serves as the liaison between Broadway musicians and Local 802 leadership and staff. It is through the Theatre Committee that we strive to ensure that all Broadway musicians have a voice, and can lean on and learn from their fellow community members.

Whether you have been playing on Broadway for decades or months, whether you are a chair holder or a substitute, your perspective as a Broadway musician is always welcomed and valued in the Broadway Theatre Committee.

Meetings

At Theatre Committee meetings, we work together to address the needs of Broadway musicians, and strive to inform members about important news and developments. We rely on the collective knowledge of our members as well as support from Local 802 staff and leadership.

• Some recent topics that have been on our agendas include:
• Health and safety concerns.
• Special situations requests.
• The state of our pension fund.
• Understanding new provisions of the Broadway contract.

Additionally, during our new “Contract Q&A” meeting segment, we make space for members to ask questions and learn about our Broadway contract.

Representing Broadway musicians

One important responsibility of the Theatre Committee is to elect a negotiating committee to represent Broadway musicians during contract negotiations. In matters such as these, all Broadway orchestras vote through their elected delegates. Each orchestra is entitled to two primary delegates and one alternate delegate to represent their orchestra. Broadway musicians who are not chair holders can also achieve delegate status by attending at least 12 out of 24 Theatre Committee meetings.

An important service the Theatre Committee has provided is maintaining the Web site www.BroadwayMusicians.com. The site highlights Broadway orchestras by providing names, bios, headshots and links to personal Web sites of orchestra members. Thanks to the generous efforts of Theatre Committee member Justin Vance, who has volunteered countless hours helping build and maintain this site, it has become an invaluable source of publicity and branding for the Broadway community. According to Squarespace Analytics, our site received 141,730 page views, and 27,029 unique visitors in 2019 alone!

E-mail broadwaymusicianswebsite@gmail.com with any information you would like to have included on the Web site.

Theatre Committee at your fingertips

The Theatre Committee has developed a deep infrastructure of digital tools and resources that members can access from all Theatre Committee e-mails. Our Theatre Committee Google Drive is becoming a one-stop shop for many resources that are useful to Broadway musicians. By simply clicking the Theatre Committee Google Drive link in any Theatre Committee e-mail, you can access:

• Theatre Committee meeting minutes
• Theatre Committee delegates list
• Theatre Committee bylaws, Local 802 bylaws and AFM bylaws
• The Broadway contract
• Broadway-related Local 802 staff directory
• Meeting handouts (which can be viewed digitally during meetings)

Additionally, the Theatre Committee has now established a dedicated Slack Workspace, which enables Theatre Committee members and subcommittees to work and communicate remotely in a private and secure manner.

All of these digital resources can be accessed directly from your mobile device. To join the Theatre Committee e-mail list or Slack Workspace, e-mail BroadwayTheatreCommittee@gmail.com.

Get involved

There are many ways Broadway musicians can participate in the Theatre Committee. If you sign up for our e-mail list, you will receive our meeting notices, and can also find our Active Member Checklist, which includes:

• Keeping up with the latest Theatre Committee meeting minutes.
• Making sure your show has proper delegate representation.
• Making sure your show’s page on BroadwayMusicians.com is up to date.

The Theatre Committee leadership looks forward to continuing to serve our members. Please always feel free to communicate with us about your needs as a Broadway musician and committee member. When we keep open lines of communication with each other, it is amazing what we can achieve.

Sincerely,

Tom Monkell, chair, tmonkell@gmail.com

Jan Mullen, vice-chair, janmullen@aol.com