Broadway Negotiations To Resume This Morning

Negotiations between the Broadway stagehand union, Local One, and the League of American Theaters and Producers will restart this morning at 10 a.m., marking the third round of talks in the standoff.

"We've made progress," the president of Local One, James Claffey Jr., said just before 8 a.m. yesterday after exiting the site of the 13-hour negotiations, the office of the league's attorney, Proskauer Rose, in Times Square.

Talks thus far have stretched nearly 60 hours over two weekends.

A spokesman for the union, Bruce Cohen, said he is optimistic that a deal can be reached soon. "You can't have a negotiation without two parties talking. We have two rather exhausted willing parties," he said.

The executive director of the league, Charlotte St. Martin, declined to comment on how negotiations were proceeding.

Local One has been on strike for 18 days, leaving all but eight theaters on Broadway dark and costing the city's economy an estimated $2 million, according to the city comptroller's office. Ms. St. Martin said performances will be canceled through tomorrow's matinees.

At the heart of the talks is a dispute over compensation and the number of stagehands that can be hired during the run of a show. Both parties have said they are optimistic that an agreement can be reached soon.

Mr. Cohen said the goal is to reopen many of the Broadway shows within 30 hours of striking a deal. "Every session has been productive," he said. "Nobody wants theaters to stay dark anymore."