Tourists line up to buy discount tickets to Broadway shows in New York Nov. 10, 2007, while members of the stagehands union walk the picket line nearby as they strike for better wages. Most Broadway shows are shuttered starting with Saturday's matinee performance. - Xinhua/Reuters

New York Broadway theater-goers lined up for discount tickets yesterday, a day after a settlement was reached between producers and striking stagehands to end the 19-day-long strike, NY1 news channel reported.

The popular musical "Chicago" offered seats for just US$26.50. Fans lined up around the block to snap up tickets.

Curtains will rise on most of the 26 shows shuttered since Nov.10. Producers, actors, and stagehands began working furiously earlier on Thursday to get the shows ready for performances.

Striking stagehands and producers reached agreement on the thorny issue Wednesday night, ending a 19-day walkout that cost the city an estimated 38 million dollars.

Neither side released details of the settlement, but according to The New York Times, the stagehands union made a concession that allows the controversial "load in" of a show to employ as few as 17 people.

About 100 stagehands from Local One cheered news of the agreement, which came around 10:30pm Wednesday, after a third day of marathon negotiations.

The 3,000-member stagehands union has between 350 and 500 members working on Broadway at any given time.