[e-drive] EQUIFLASH [No injunction granted by labour board; Anti-Blue Man rally to proceed]

[caea-l at list.web.net]

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No injunction granted by labour board; Yonge Street Anti-Blue Man rally to proceed on Sunday
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The Ontario Labour Relations Board has declined to grant a request by the Toronto production of Blue Man Group to curtail Sunday's opening night demonstration by the Blue Man Boycott Coalition across the street from the Panasonic Theatre on Yonge Street. The written decision by board chair Kevin Whitaker will be issued later today.

"It's great to live in Canada, where we have the freedom to speak our minds and protest what we believe to be wrong," said Coalition spokesperson Susan Wallace, Executive Director of the Canadian Actors' Equity Association. The Toronto Musicians' Association (TMA) and Locals 58 and 822 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) are the other Coalition partners. 

Blue Man had applied for an injunction that would forbid any Coalition-related activities within several blocks of the theatre where the official premiere of the Toronto production will be playing to an invitation-only audience Sunday at 6:00 p.m. 

The "Anti-Blue Man Experience" will begin at 5:00 p.m. with live entertainment by the Toronto all-star band Blue(s) Woman Group. Several special guests from the Canadian performing arts and political communities will address the rally.

"We do not intend to prevent any of the invitees from entering the theatre and we are not asking any of the employees inside to refuse to do their jobs," said Ms. Wallace. "We respect other people's rights as much as we want our own to be respected."

"But we will not be silent in the face of Blue Man Group's resistance to Toronto's long tradition of cooperation between producers and the organization that represent theatrical professionals. That cooperation has made Toronto one of the world's great live theatrical cities. Blue Man Group wants to take advantage of what we have achieved here while spurning those who made it possible."

EVENT:	The Anti-Blue Man Experience
DATE:		Sunday, June 19, 2005
TIME:		5:00 - 7:00 p.m.	
PLACE:		Yonge & St. Mary Street (south of Bloor)

Canadian Actors' Equity Association
44 Victoria St., 12th floor
Toronto, ON  M5C 3C4