Pasadena Playhouse, Directors Sign Pact Ending 3-Month Strike

The directors’ strike against the Pasadena Playhouse is over.

Playhouse management and the directors’ union--the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers--have signed an agreement based on the union’s contract for Off Broadway theaters in New York.

The agreement covers all directors and choreographers who work at the Playhouse through June 30, 1996.

The union went on strike in December over how directors are compensated when Playhouse shows go on tour. The issue came to the forefront last year when the Playhouse began touring productions regularly to Poway and Santa Barbara.

Under the terms of the agreement, royalties of 2% of the gross will be paid to directors and choreographers, beginning with the seventh week of performances from when the show opens in Pasadena and continuing through any extensions at other theaters. Because Playhouse capacity is larger than the Off Broadway norm, the minimum fees will be somewhat higher.

Previous Playhouse contracts with directors and choreographers did not automatically include provisions for touring, as they were modeled on the union’s League of Resident Theatres contract. That contract was written for nonprofit theaters that seldom tour their shows. By contrast, the Off Broadway contract, used by some commercial producers as well as the major New York nonprofit theaters, has touring provisions written into it.

“This one fits our needs like a glove,” said Playhouse executive director Lars Hansen.

The union had submitted a copy of the Off Broadway contract to Playhouse owner David Houk for consideration in December, before the strike was officially declared. “It was an educational process for him,” said Hansen, when asked why the agreement took so long.

“It took some pressure” to reach agreement, said David Rosenak, executive director of the union.

At the request of the union, member Charles Nelson Reilly withdrew last fall from directing “The Twilight of the Golds” at the Playhouse; he was replaced by non-member Tom Alderman, and the union mounted an informational picket line on opening night, Jan. 17. Another non-member, Jules Aaron, was hired to direct “Isn’t It Romantic?,” which opens March 21. But now that an agreement has been reached, Aaron has agreed to join the union.

The strike served to organize the L.A. wing of the union, said Rosenak, who is now talking to Long Beach Civic Light Opera producer Barry Brown about the possibility of formalizing a union agreement there.