Renewed Broadway Talks Pause in Stalemate

After more than 12 hours of negotiations last night, talks between the Broadway stagehands' union, Local One, and the League of American Theaters and Producers ended this morning with no deal, the two parties said.

"We've made progress," the president of Local One, James Claffey Jr., said just before 8 a.m. today after exiting the site of the negotiations, the office of the league's attorney, Proskauer Rose, in Times Square. "We're taking a break so we can stay conscious, and to get some rest."

Talks will resume tomorrow at 10 a.m., the executive director of the league, Charlotte St. Martin, said in a statement. She declined to comment on the substance of today's meeting.

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

A spokesman for the union, Bruce Cohen, called the atmosphere of the today's meeting "frank and business-like." "It's different than it was yesterday, when there was a bit of a storm," Mr. Cohen said, comparing the talks to the 20-hour session on Sunday. "This is a bit of a whimper."

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 will 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."