By NICK SLEPKO

Saturday night, Dec. 12th, 1998: I had a date!

Looking for something different to do than the usual dinner and a movie, we went to Lake City's Civic Light Opera for an entertaining musical - and to see the striking musicians, union organizers, and UW Socialist Workers Party diehards outside blocking the theater.

Actually, it wasn't so much that they were in the main pathway as that the 40 or so protesters had taken all the good parking.

You'd think that if the AFL-CIO could galvanize a raucous sit-in the week prior, they could have organized a simple carpool.

As much as observers like to crow about the irony of Civic Light's current production "Rags" being about the turn-of-the-century union movement in the garment industry, they really miss the true irony.

When Eastern European Jews land in New York City, a mother and son are almost deported when the father is not to be found. As the story progresses, he surfaces as a lackey in the Tammany Hall political machine. While he has been seduced by politics and is derelict in his duties as head of the household, his wife becomes a Marxist and the son a hard-nosed capitalist. In a situation like that, who does one root for?

A similar real-life development seems to have occurred in the Civic Light Opera (a.k.a. CLO) family. As one volunteer stated: "CLO is here to provide affordable shows and a chance for untried talent to hone their skills."

Well, yes, perhaps 20 years ago when CLO was in its formative years. The truth is that Civic Light has gotten really good - professional even.

Now it must decide whether it should move into the ranks of the Paramounts and Fifth Avenue theatres and make the necessary employment adjustments like allowing for the musicians to unionize and jack up their ticket prices to accommodate the new arrangements.

Their other option: return to the theatre company's original intent and allow a lot more newbies to take the stage, pit, and director's chair.

The protesters must realize this as well. When asked why they were striking one of the demonstrators, Judy Stoffel Lowen, summed up the group's anxieties: "Since Mary Levine (Civic Light's late artistic director), there's been no one taking care of us ... and without collective bargaining, it's one on one."

In a flyer passed out by the demonstrators, the union organizers list "substitution policies, protection from unauthorized recordings, booking, and hiring policies, break times, health and safety in the orchestra pit, job security, and a fair grievance procedure," as just some of their non-financial concerns.

When questioned about the protester's demands, Scott Green, Civic Light's current artistic director, responded that he was only approached once with a problem concerning working conditions. He points out that the company was able to remedy the situation by bringing in more comfortable chairs.

Early in the year, a small contingent of Civic Light musicians approached the American Federation of Musicians about union representation.

By summer, the management at Civic Light perceived that, in addition to issues regarding working conditions, the musicians were interested in seeking wage hikes. This prompted Green to write a letter addressed to the musicians elucidating the theater's position: "CLO cannot be compared to the Village, Fifth Avenue, or Paramount theaters in regards to budgets ... Financially, there has not been a significant budget surplus for years now, and this past season there was a shortfall ...

"It would be great if everyone could be paid what his or her time and talent deserves, but part of CLO's mission is to be affordable ... This leaves a personal choice for everyone who participates here."

By only playing the first week of Civic Light's production of "Rags," the union organizers made the theatre's task of finding replacement musicians even more difficult.

When the strike began, Civic Light was prepared to continue the show with only a piano and synthesizer, but several musicians stayed to complete their contracts instead of breaking their promise and standing outside in the cold.

The strike may stretch into Civic Light's next production. Evidently, many of the striking musicians have a high level of endurance.

On the protestors' website, the group asserts: "It is clear to musicians on the Organizing Committee who have watched CLO's development (some for over 15 of its 21 years), that the real operational power rest with the Board of Directors. Their history has not inspired trust with any of the musicians, actors, nor production crew."

After 15 years of dealing with what the musicians considered to be an "untrustworthy" board - a board that has worked to provide support and donations from the local community to maintain Civic Light's existence -1998 seemed to be the year that many of the musicians thought was payback time.

When protesters were questioned about their immediate intentions, they unanimously answered that it boiled down to a key issue: "respect."

However, after carrying out their vow to disrupt each performance until formal talks occur, Civic Light Opera and the usually union-friendly Seattleites who attend the theatre's shows may be less than enthusiastic about hearing from them ever again.

The union organizers staged a less-than-silent sit-in one night by storming into the Jane Addams building where Civic Light holds its performances. After one of the protesters was arrested, and causing a 20-minute delay in starting the show, the rest of the strikers let themselves out.

The scene prompted one theater-goer that night to remark: "The world already has enough lobbyists."

Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata, who was late in arriving that evening, had originally been asked by the striking musicians to come and "speak on cultural worker's right to organize."

Ron Judd of the King County Labor Council had assured Licata that nothing of a disruptive nature would occur that night. Even though the situation had settled down by the time he arrived, Licata said he was "feeling a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation after that point."

Like many local, community-oriented entities such as Civic Light, or even a neighborhood newspaper like this one, those who dedicate their time, efforts, (and dates) to their passion sometimes have to make trade-offs.

Also, without these initial stepping stones, how else will those who haven't yet had the opportunity to experience their first big acting role or their first front-page by-line be able to "hone their skills," and excel?

It may do well for both parties to take the advice of Bella, a supporting character in "Rags": "Here in America, you can do anything. They don't make it easy, they just make it so you can do anything."

(Of course, she was killed in a fire in one of the poorly constructed garment factories.)

Nick Slepko is associate editor of the Jet City Maven.