Rally to Save Live Music

VARIETY ARTS THEATRE
3rd Avenue just south of 14th Street

Tuesday, April 13, 5:00-7:00pm
and every show thereafter

(Wed-Fri, 6-8pm, Sat noon-2pm and 6-8pm, Sun 11:30am-1:30pm and 3:30-5:30pm)

• The owner of the Variety Arts Theatre, Ben Sprecher, is premiering a new musical, The Joys of Sex, with a virtual orchestra machine. This machine, designed to replace live music, was at the heart of last year’s Broadway strike.
  
  
• Broadway producer Cameron Mackintosh replaced half the Les Misérables orchestra in London with a virtual orchestra machine. Now Mr. Sprecher, also a Broadway producer, is attempting to use this machine in place of live musicians in one of the largest off-Broadway theatres—just a heartbeat away from Broadway.
  
  
• The intentions of these Broadway producers are clear: the elimination of live music in order to reap greater profits. They will not stop at London. They will not stop at off-Broadway. Their ultimate goal is to replace live music with the virtual orchestra machine on Broadway. Local 802 is committed to fighting these continued attempts to destroy a cherished art form that brings hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues to New York City every year.
  
  
• The musicians of Local 802 have the full support of the NYC Central Labor Council and the State AFL-CIO. We must show these producers that we are united in our efforts to save live music in New York City.

Together we can ensure that NYC remains
the live music capital of the world.