By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TIMES SQUARE — Broadway musicians literally took their act to Broadway to protest canned music in the new musical, "Priscilla Queen of the Desert."
Armed with violins and bows, the group went to Times Square Thursday night to call on producers to abandon their decision to use canned audio in place of some musicians.
"One of our traditions [in New York] are our Broadway shows and we absolutely need it to be a real experience for our audience," said trumpet player Michael Blutman, 28 of Queens, before he rushed off to perform in "Phantom of the Opera."
Producers of "Priscilla" have adamantly defended their decision to use taped music. They say they're trying to capture a specific sound — the music of 1980's drag shows in Sydney — that is best achieved using some recordings.
Opponents charged the show is just trying to cut corners by skimping on musicians, and say audiences are being shortchanged as a result.
"It stifles the whole musical aspect of it," said Tino Gagliardi, president of Local 802, the musicians' union, who slammed the move as a "kick in the teeth" to audiences paying top dollar.
"What's next? Are we going to go to the MoMa and look at Xerox copies?" he asked.
The union is currently challenging a decision made by an independent judge approving the orchestra size.
Dean Rolando, 60, a Chicago-musician traveled to New York to voice his opposition in front of the Palace Theatre.
"People are getting ripped off. This is not what people paid for," he said.
The protest was the first by the "Save Live Music on Broadway" campaign, launched earlier this month. The group plans to continue demonstrating to pressure the show.
