Musicians’ unions continue to fight musical theater producers on both sides of the Atlantic. Use of Sinfonia, the virtual orchestra machine, continues for various reasons. Cameron Mackintosh Productions reached an agreement with the Musicians’ Union in London to use the Sinfonia for “Les Misérables” as it had to move to a theater with a small orchestra pit. However, the settlement allows for the use of the machine in that production only, with the understanding that further negotiations will take place to regulate the use of playback devices. Back in New York, Local 802 protested the Opera Company of Brooklyn’s use of the Sinfonia and won their agreement to hire musicians in the future. 802’s latest Sinfonia complaint is against an Off Broadway production “The Joys of Sex” whose composer claims he wrote the music specifically for the device. Union president David Lennon responded “Claiming to have composed for the virtual orchestra is about as valid as claiming to have composed for a tape recorder.” (sources: Backstage.com and The N.Y. Times)