That is exactly what has now been memorialized in the agreement with the Opera Company of Brooklyn. The first agreement banning the virtual orchestra machine and pledging a commitment to using only live musicians is no small victory. Moreover, if a small company like the Opera Company of Brooklyn can make such an unprecedented commitment to live music, those producers with far more resources should have no excuse.

Some would have you believe that Brooklyn, Broadway, London and touring shows are all separate and unrelated situations. Do not be fooled. The common thread that inextricably ties them together is the device at the center of the battlefield -- the virtual orchestra machine.

In London, Cameron Mackintosh is threatening to replace over half of the "Les Miserables" orchestra with a virtual orchestra machine. The manufacturer of that machine is Brooklyn-based Realtime Music Solutions, the very same machine and manufacturer used by the Opera Company of Brooklyn! Mackintosh is one of the producers that unsuccessfully tried to pass this contraption off to Broadway audiences last year. That is why 802 needs to wholeheartedly support our brothers and sisters of the British Musicians Union.

Just days ago, a producer with business ties to a prominent theatre owner and League member informed 802 that he was planning on using a virtual orchestra machine in an upcoming Off Broadway production (we will keep you posted as that situation develops).

This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that we have to fight to keep music live. We can, we must, and we will take a stand. The fight on Broadway was not the end. It was just the beginning.