The Barricades Are Alive!

We read in some of the coverage of the stagehands strike the following statement – obviously referring to Les Miz and trying to be clever:

“So now … the barricades are silent.”

Newsflash: the barricades don’t sing. The barricades are inanimate objects. That’s like answering the question, “So who are you playing in Les Mis?” with “Oh, the barricade.”

“Hey, I just got cast in Camelot!”
“That’s great! Who are you playing?”
“Camelot.”

“Hey, man, haven’t seen you in a while – what’ve you been up to?”
“Great stuff! Just got cast in the road company of Oklahoma!”
“Dude, that’s great! Who are you playing?”
“Oklahoma.”

The barricades are ALWAYS silent because they are NOT ALIVE.

We have been guffawing with laughter about this whole thing – first of all, the image of the barricades singing and then suddenly falling silent – and we have also had fun coming up with much better “puns” for the strike using Les Mis lyrics. We are amusing ourselves on this grey rainy day.

The Master of the House? There IS no Master of the House because the House is closed.

There will be “empty chairs and empty tables” on Broadway tonight due to the stagehands strike.

Do you hear the people sing? Actually, no we don’t, because all the shows have closed.

How long will the strike go on? One more dawn, one more day, one day more.

24601 … more days of striking

Come to me, Cosette, the light is fading … because the lighting designers have gone home.

Exeunt.

We can’t stop.

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25 Responses to The Barricades Are Alive!

  1. This is beautiful.

    And now I’m feverishly trying to come up with clever lyrics of my own. So far, nothing. I do, however, have “I Dreamed a Dream” stuck in my head (the Patti Lupone version.)

  2. red says:

    Curly – please do join in! I’m sure it’ll be hilarious. We’re being so goofy right now!!

  3. melissa says:

    I dreamed a dream of days gone by
    When the Broadway shows were playing
    Negotaions were complete
    And the stagehands were paid.

  4. melissa says:

    This is fun…

    At the end of the day there’s no Broadway shows running.

  5. Melissa says:

    Who am I?
    Who am I?
    I’m a stagehand on strike!

  6. melissa says:

    And there has to be one out of Black and Red…

    Red, the theater’s budget sheet.
    Black, the theater’s lights
    Red, the striker’s sign.
    Black, the night that never ends…. (maybe)

  7. red says:

    red and black – HAHAHAHA

  8. melissa says:

    That memory of books? I have one of lyrics also… now I have the whole album running through my head phrase by phrase….

  9. red says:

    Lovely ladies – we’re all out of work!
    Chorus Line has closed and we have gone berserk!

  10. red says:

    Oh and naturally – this strike affects many people in my life personally. I am surrounded by striking friends right now. I do not laugh at lost work. I do, however, laugh at the image of the barricade opening its mouth and breaking into song.

  11. melissa says:

    Of course. If any of the local stagehands went on strike, I’d have friends on both sides of the line. (And I do have friends in the Writers strike)

  12. tracey says:

    Stars
    In your multitudes
    Scarce to be counted
    Filling the darkness
    Now all out of worrrrk!!

  13. tracey says:

    Look down and crack your purse-y if you can
    Look down, look down upon these poor stagehands!

    “purse-y”?

    I am drunk.

  14. Brendan says:

    I am Javert.
    I tried to commit suicide but without the swirling light and raising bridge I merely stood in the spot I was already in.

  15. tracey says:

    Brendan — I can’t stop laughing at that.

  16. Kate P says:

    This is hilarious. (Especially to someone whose Glee Club spring show sophomore year was a super-medley of Les Mis.)

    Don’t forget about, “Aren’t any floors for me to sweep”–‘cos I’m on strike!

  17. Sal says:

    “Clear away the barricades
    and we’re still there…”

    Um, no, you’re not.

  18. red says:

    Hahaha this thread is hilarious. You guys are awesome.

  19. Marisa says:

    Without them
    the Broadway we know changes
    The seats are bare
    and everywhere
    showpeople act like strangers

  20. red says:

    //showpeople act like strangers//

    hahahahahahaha

  21. nightfly says:

    At the end of the day there’s another show canceled
    All we wanted to do was go to a play
    It’s a shame and a crime
    Just sitting around all the time
    ‘Cos the stagehands wanna get paid –
    At the end of the day!

  22. red says:

    Well done!! These are all making me laugh. Love it!

  23. red says:

    I spent a summer on the stage
    My hopes were high
    and fame was calling
    Now the stagehands are in a rage
    They stopped the shows
    My hopes are falling …

  24. tracey says:

    And out on the picket lines, all the burly stagehands delicately sing:

    There is a castle on a cloud
    I like to go there in my sleep
    Aren’t any floors for me to sweep
    Cuz Broadway is now just like a shroud ….

  25. red says:

    Tracey, I am crying. I can’t stop picturing that – the contrast of the burly dudes and that special little fairy tale song. I’m dying!!!!!!

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