Two top U.S. elected officials joined union leaders and entertainment veterans Wednesday evening at SAG-AFTRA‘s annual “Rock the City” reception saluting the industry in New York.
Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senator from New York and Senate Majority Leader, was joined by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) at the event at SAG-AFTRA’s offices across from Lincoln Center.
“The arts are so important to our economy. People don’t realize it,” Schumer told Deadline. Also, “when you see a great performance, it just lifts your soul. You know what? We need that now more than ever.”
Nadler struck a similar note in his remarks to guests, calling artistic endeavors “food for the soul” for participants and audiences alike. Alluding to Schumer’s vow to continue supporting the entertainment industry “as long as I’m here on Earth,” he said, “We can let Elon Musk go to Mars. As long as we’re here on Earth, the arts will be very, very important.”
Broadway, which slumped a bit last year, is on the upswing, Schumer noted. “We need the state tax incentive,” he said, referring to the recently sweetened package making its way through the statehouse in Albany. “People don’t understand – this is an economic boost. It puts money in people’s pockets. People go to the restaurants, they buy things. It’s so important in so many different ways. When I signed Save Our Stages and kept the arts going [during the pandemic], it’s one of the best things I’ve done in my political career – or in my human life!”
Surveying the crowd, which brought together constituents of film and TV figures but also Broadway, recorded music and other sectors, Linda Powell, SAG-AFTRA Executive Vice President, took note of the blend. “I love that we have all the different people that we have in the room all at the same time,” she said. Rebecca Damon, SAG-AFTRA Chief Labor Policy Officer and NY Local Executive Director, added that when people thing of the union, “they always think of our actors … but they don’t always think of our recording artists, our singers, our dancers and all of that.”
This year’s edition of the springtime event still brought echoes of the 2023 strike and an industry last year trying to get on its feet amid numerous financial challenges. “Last time we got together, it was post-strike and we were celebrating,” Power said. “And this year, I want to celebrate that we’re all slowly but surely getting back to work. More of that, please! Bring it on, bring it on, bring it on.”
Deadline was SAG-AFTRA’s media partner for the event.
Ezra Knight, SAG-AFTRA NY Local President, spoke with Deadline by phone from backstage at Othello on Broadway, where he was getting set for an evening performance after a brief stop at the reception.
Asked about the mood of performers in the union, Knight said it is “of course nervous, fraught with anxiety, frustrated that there’s not more immediate work out there.” Nevertheless, he added, there is plenty of “enthusiasm” in “this wonderful ecosystem of New York.” Members of SAG-AFTRA are rooting for the industry to “get back to where it was in 2019,” Knight said. That “apprehension and anxiety is mixed with a sense of renewal, with the success of what happened in 2023.”
Attendees Wednesday also included Samantha Mathis, SAG-AFTRA National Board member; New York State Sen. Bradley Hoylman-Sigal; BAFTA North America Chair Joyce Pierploline; Sam Wheeler, Exec Director of the WGA East; Vincent Alvarez, President of the New York City Central Labor Council; Thomas O’Donnell, President Teamsters Local 817; Jeffrey Spurgeon, WQXR host; and Jim Kerr, radio host on Q104.3 and SAG-AFTRA New York Local Vice President.
