Scrivener.net

The best job at Carnegie Hall isn’t performing

The guys who push the piano onto the stage at Carnegie Hall make more than the guy who plays it.

Dennis O’Connell, who oversees props at the legendary concert hall, made $530,044 in the fiscal year that ended in June...

The four other members of the full-time stage crew — two carpenters and two electricians — had an average income of $430,543 during the same period, according to Carnegie Hall’s tax return...

The stagehands have a powerful union: Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees shut down 26 Broadway shows for nearly three weeks in November 2007. Its strike cost the city $40 million, the city comptroller said at the time... Labor historian Joshua Freeman said the union’s power to shut down a vital part of the city’s entertainment industry gives it leverage. [Metro]

Now, the next time you visit NYC and pay an outlandish price for tickets to a show, you'll know what in fair part you are paying for.

Updating the old joke: "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" "Practice. Have a relative get you into the union, then wait for seniority".