Conflict has been brewing in recent weeks between the new electro-pop Broadway musical “Here Lies Love” and Musicians Union Local 802 over the show’s plan to use prerecorded instrumental tracks rather than live musicians. In the absence of approved special circumstances, union contracts on Broadway stipulate the minimum number of musicians that must be hired for each theater depending on size. On Friday, June 9, the producers of “Here Lies Love” announced that they had reached an agreement with Local 802 over the issue. Under the agreement, the show will hire 12 musicians, including three actor-musicians who are part of the cast.
It is presently unclear how the addition of the musicians will affect the physical layout and sound design of the show (which is immersive in nature and will radically transform the Broadway Theatre into a disco club environment) and whether any prerecorded music will still be utilized in the production. The producers of the show had previously defended the use of the prerecorded music, claiming that “the method of vocalists singing along to pre-recorded, synthetic tracks” was “built into the show’s artistic DNA.” In response, Local 802 accused the producers of “using technology to try to replace professional musicians.”
Producers of Here Lies Love on Broadway.
Singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge will bring her autobiographical solo show “Melissa Etheridge: My Window,” which premiered Off-Broadway last fall, to Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre for a limited nine-week run beginning Sept. 14. “I truly love Broadway, and it’s long been a dream of mine to tell my story and share my music there,” Etheridge said in a statement. “It’s a deeply personal experience to be able to tell these stories again, in a fresh and exciting way, and reconnect with my fans and theatergoers.” The show focuses on Etheridge’s childhood in Kansas and her rock music career. Her best-known songs include “I’m the Only One,” “Come to My Window,” and “I Want to Come Over.”
Tony Awards ratings rise slightly over last year
The 76th Annual Tony Awards broadcast was viewed of 4.3 million viewers on CBS, which marks a small increase over last year’s viewership of 3.9 million. Even so, the number is well below the 5.5 million viewership for the pre-pandemic 2019 Tony Awards. The 2021 Tony Awards, held in the fall and honoring the truncated 2019-2020 season, was viewed by only 2.8 million viewers.
Documentary on Taylor Mac’s ’24-Decade History of Popular Music’ to premiere on HBO
In 2016, the gender-bending, freewheeling and critical-minded performance artist Taylor Mac performed “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music,” a 24-hour, decade-by-decade exploration of American song and culture from 1776 through 2016, at St. Ann’s Warehouse in downtown Brooklyn. (It could be viewed either in three-hour installments or over 24 straight hours on October 8, 2016.) An HBO Original Documentary on the production, titled “Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music,” will debut on HBO on June 27. It was also announced this week that Mac will play the title role in a new production of “Orlando” (Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of the Virginia Woolf novel) produced Off-Broadway next season by Signature Theatre.
