Musicians' Union and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

The hit musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, has been getting some great word-of-mouth reviews and greater ticket sales. On a more sour note, they have recently also been getting some flack from the musicians' union, Local 802. According to a report in the New York Times by Patrick Healy, the union is "waging an aggressive ... campaign against the new musical in hopes of undercutting the use of recorded music during live theatrical performances." In 2003, the union made concessions to lower the required number of musicians that would be required in each Broadway house, but Priscilla seems to cross a line for the union by using only 9 musicians by using only 9 musicians and mostly piped music.

For more on the battle at hand, check out Patrick Healy's NY Times article linked here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/theater/broadway-union-takes-on-priscilla-over-recorded-music.html?_r=1&ref=theater