The marquees may be dark, but Broadway has never had more drama.

Three angry middle-aged women stood outside Chicago’s Ambassador Theatre Saturday night where curtains were scheduled to go up on Grammy-nominated Brian McKnight as lawyer Billy Flynn. Hailing from Ohio, the theater lovers had spent thousands on airfare and hotel rooms. They had tickets to see five Broadway shows in one weekend. But because of the Local One stagehand strike, they would only be seeing one.

“I sympathize with what they’re doing, but it sucks to be me,” said Laura, one of the three, a high school teacher who had taken off time from her job to come to New York.

At 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10, Local One, a 3000-member stagehand union, declared a strike on the League of American Theatres and Producers. Their actions were sanctioned by International President Thomas C. Short of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical was the first show to be affected. Gearing up for the holiday season and catering to family theatergoers, the musical had its first performance scheduled for 11 a.m. But by the time matinee audiences were gathering in midtown, only seven Broadway theater houses remained open.

“It’s hard to tell little 5-year-old girls they won’t be going to see Wicked today,” said an employee at the Gershwin who wished to remain anonymous. “A lot of them start to cry.”

Disputes between Local One and the League have been ongoing since late July, but according to a statement posted on IATSE’s official Web site, tensions mounted when IATSE President Short was forced to leave the table this past Thursday due to issues involving the Writers Guild strike. He said that because employers of the League were unwilling to compromise with members of the Local One Union’s bargaining team upon his departure, he had no choice but to authorize the hold.

Outside each empty theater Saturday night stood a dozen or more Local One picketers with signs that read “Our Families Are Number One.” This marks the first strike in the Union’s 125-year history. Forbidden by IATSE to provide any explanation, they could only offer colored flyers that outlined their arguments, citing producers’ demands for a 38 percent cut in jobs and wages as the underlying cause.

Just steps away from the picketers, managers and workers employed by League theaters handed patrons a different type of flyer—one that read “The Facts about the Stagehands’ Strike.” The League, it reads, claims to uphold a 3.5 percent wage increase each year for five years in addition to other bonuses, but it wants to eliminate what it see as “featherbedding,” which involves the overhiring and overpaying of workers.

One worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the League was fighting against Local One’s “antiquated work issues,” and the flyer cites many examples of stagehands receiving large lump sums for doing little-to-no work. Standing outside the locked theater, he said, “Because stagehands can’t go into the theater, they can’t take their stuff out and tour. We are all essentially frozen.”

But it doesn’t bode well for band members of Duran Duran, whose instruments remain inside the Barrymore Theatre indefinitely. Dana Lios and Jill Reiss from New Jersey were “devastated” to hear that the popular ’80s band wouldn’t be playing Saturday night, one of 10 concerts in the group’s limited engagement series.

“We both have little babies that we left with babysitters tonight, and we came out as faithful fans,” said Reiss.

“I’m really shocked,” said Lios, “I’ve been listening since the eighth grade, and I really wanted to hear ‘The Reflex’ and ‘Save a Prayer’ tonight.”

Troubled ticket-holders concerned about ways to obtain refunds were met by employees who provided handouts with Ticketmaster and Telecharge information.

“We only have the information for tickets purchased through Ticketmaster in our box office,” said the Gershwin employee. “If you buy your tickets from a broker, we can’t do anything about that.” She explained that it was at the discretion of the brokers if they would refund a patron’s money. Other theater employees, such as those outside the Avenue Q box office, were offering a list of entertainment alternatives both on and Off-Broadway.

For the seven Broadway theaters that remained open, ticket sales skyrocketed. Even though The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee recently announced its plan to close this January, tickets “were sold out for the afternoon show within the first three hours [of the box office being open],” according to an employee who wished to remain anonymous. “I don’t know if it’ll generate more publicity, but people who are inconvenienced end up here.” Spelling Bee performs at the Circle in the Square, an independent theater, and its stagehands are on a separate contract. Xanadu also played to two sold out houses on Saturday.

“They took a long time to go on strike, and I’ve heard people say that it’s going to last just one week. But just imagine all the money they’re losing,” said one anonymous Xanadu promoter standing outside the TKTS booth.

An online statement released by Charlotte St. Martin, executive director for the League, says that the strike will cost the industry $17 million a day.

But the actors are still in attendance. Just minutes before evening show times, actors and actresses gathered outside their respective theaters in solidarity. Stephen Buntrock, who plays Teen Angel in the new Grease revival, stood at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre as a member of Actors’ Equity, an entity that supports the Local One Union. It too had a flyer detailing its stance on the issue.

“This flyer was written this afternoon, and I believe everything it says,” said Buntrock. “We’re here to support Local One. It’s unanimous across the board—there’s a lot of unity out here.”

“Honestly, as an actor, I’m really new to these types of things,” said 2007 Tony-winner John Gallagher Jr. of Spring Awakening as he chatted with fellow cast members while strumming chords on his ukulele.

“The Local One supports Actors’ Equity, and we support them. I don’t think you’ll see any of us crossing picket lines a) by choice and b) even if we were to do so, there’d be no point. Plus, it’s kind of fun,” he added, smiling, “It’s like a snow day.”