what is the difference in paying a musician versus an actor who maybe says 2 lines? Another actor could just as well as those lines as could the person hired for those two lines. And the ticket prices are also inflated when you have to hire "big names" such as Shirley Jones who attract business, but yet, you have to pay them more. An extra 4.46 for musicians is not going to kill most Americans - if you have come to NYC to begin with, you should be able to spare that extra 4.46...i mean, what else can you do with it - go to McDonalds and buy yourself a Value Meal? I am a musician aspiring to be a Broadway musician and I don't think that musicians should be eliminated totally - perhaps a minimum should be set based on the score of the music...instead of putting 2 trumpets on one part, just put one. That would cut back on the number...and probaby meets the new minimum of 18 (i believe it is)...I can see the advantage of computers, however, I do not think this is a solution - the US already has a high rate of unemployment and kicking musicians out is just going to make it worse. They need jobs just like actors needs jobs...whats next, virtual actors?

that argument may have flown in the 1930's, but in this day and age of perfect sound reproduction, requiring anyone who puts on a show to hire an extra 24 people even if they'd be just as happy using pre-recorded music, is nuts. Lets do a little math here: (these are all my best guesses) Assuming the average broadway musician earns an annualized salary of $65,000, at 24 musicians that's an extra 1.56 million per year in expenses the show must take on whether or not they want to. Now assuming there is no markup on the cost of the music against ticket sales (which of course there is), and the average showing sells 1,000 tickets at 350 shows per year, the price of each individual ticket goes up by $4.46. If we assume an average price paid per ticket of $45.00 and price elasticity is neutral, you just told the poorest 10% of your audience that they can't afford the theatre... Not to mention the fact that you are making it that much harder for each production to sustain itself- The actors are idiots for siding with the musicians- they are the ones that will be out of a job when the extra employees on payroll make the production unprofitable. I dont see the theatres being required to hire 24 actors if they want to put on a one-man show....

Damn- Josh Reznick is no fan of the working man! I feel more ambivalent- obviously requiring 24 musicians to show up and be paid for doing nothing makes no sense if a show only needs 8 musicians, but come on- you don't want them to be forcing some guy to play the guitar, accordian, and the kazoo all at the same time. Someone could get hurt in a situation like that- and besides, playing multiple instruments would put a lot of hard working circus monkeys out of work.