Broadway union dispute settled

Broadway lights will continue to shine.

Two weeks after its contract expired, the union representing stage actors reached a tentative agreement Monday with New York theater producers, ending a period of uncertainty as the two sides wrangled over issues of healthcare costs, actor safety and, most important, nonunion tours of Broadway shows.

“We have a settlement,” said Maria Somma, a spokeswoman for Actors’ Equity Assn. Details of the settlement were not immediately available.

In March 2003, more than a dozen Broadway musicals shut down for four days after the musicians’ union walked out, resulting in lost theater revenue of more than $5 million.