Basheva - I don't think such a generality can be made. The base positions - props, electrics, fly, carpenter, wardrobe still exist, and are still needed.<P>Where it may no longer take 6 guys to run a big old light board, it may now be that there are more spots, or perhaps two light boards (one running standard lighting and one running moving fixtures). So I expect things balance out. <P>I don't know of any hard set position in a theater that is an obsolete one that some guy/gal is just sitting around all the time. Sure, there are some shows where that particular job isn't exactly taxing (like the fly crew on a Balanchine blue scrim show).<P><BR>Archaeo, yes, in the best case scenario, a union crew is just like any other crew. They are there to get the show on its legs, and they have an interest in doing the job right. When you approach them as partners in this task, and not as money-grubbing lazibones, you usually have a good time. Sure, there's some bad apples. There's some bad apples in non-union world, too.<P>They very first summer I worked with a union crew in a rather difficult house, I was a nervous wreck. I was doing outside props. When we got to the theater, we had a problem with a slip cover for a loveseat that wasn't finished before the show. The house guy told me he absolutely could not do such a thing as take the time and crew to finish it now, and I could not touch it. What to do? A few minutes later the guy grabbed me and said - "Go in dressing room 6, and don't tell me where you are. Close the door." Had no idea what the heck he was talking about. I got to the dressing room, and in it he had put the love seat...so I closed the door and did my work.<P>
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