More Ticket Woes

More than two years ago, Monty Python's Eric Idle created a Broadway play called Spamalot. It's based on the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." I promised myself I'd go see it. I downloaded the soundtrack on iTunes. I was determined that the next time I got a chance to go to New York, I would be sitting in the Shubert Theatre watching the show. Then last Christmas we went to New York City. But Chieko has never been excited to see this show, and we were with Sara and Jared and their kids. So we didn't consider going. I had to wait for my next opportunity. 

My boss asked me recently to manage our relationship with a research partner based in New York, and I said, "Sure, that would be a great opportunity to advance my career." What I thought was, "That means I'll likely have to go to New York and see Spamalot." I mentioned to the research partner that I should meet everyone and go over our objectives and strategies. We decided that December 11 would be a good time. Even before I arranged the travel, I bought a ticket for a great seat in Center Orchestra in the Shubert Theatre on the evening of December 11 for $120.50. This was going to be a super business trip.  

But then I read in the paper two weeks ago that the stagehand union called a strike and shut down most Broadway shows, including Spamalot. Maybe the strike would be resolved before December 11, I thought. After all, the last strike, by the musicians, lasted just four days. The strike previous to that was way back in the 1970s. However, this time the union and producers weren't talking. But then they spent all last weekend negotiating, and surely they'd come to an agreement before the Thanksgiving holiday. Nope. The union said the producers weren't generous enough. Now it looks like this strike will go through Thanksgiving and possibly through Christmas. December 11 is not looking good at all. I could see Spamalot in Las Vegas or even the traveling show coming to Salt Lake, but those shows have been cut shorter than the Broadway show. The intermission has been eliminated. Worse, they aren't Broadway. I'm really bummed.