Madonna Crosses Picket Lines for Best-Selling Concert Tours

Madonna, her cast and crew, and some 20,000 ticket holders crossed picket lines Sunday night at The Forum in Los Angeles, for the opening night of one of summer's best-selling concert tours.

Picketing the show were hundreds of members and supporters of a local branch of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). A spokesperson for the union said Madonna was asked to stay away from the venue because of its treatment of workers, but she refused.

"Well, she's supposed to be a person who has some community consciousness, and it doesn't seem like it, because she's been crossing the line everyday during rehearsals," picketer Carl Hicks told AP Television News.

"Yeah, I'm surprised," added picketer Paul Foxman. "Maybe it's her English husband. Maybe he's stupid, too. I don't know. She's living in England now, and if she cared for the people, I guess she'd cancel the concert. But I guess she's getting paid too much money."

Madonna fans from around the globe flocked to Los Angeles, and an unscientific sampling showed they were undaunted by the picket lines.

"We travelled 28 hours without any sleep to get here," explained Liam, who travelled from Manchester, England. "So, sitting on the plane for 10 hours, you think, 'Is it worth it?' And it will be worth it, and it will be a good show."

Louisa, from Rome, Italy, said, "Well, for last tour, for The Reinvention Tour, we were so jealous during the first night, that we said, 'No. The next one, we're going to go for the first night.' And we're here now. We made it."

Maurcio came from Brazil. "Well, I was a fan of hers since 1986," he said. "I followed her career. I've gone to all of her shows. I like her a lot."

Dubbed the 'Confessions' tour, it comes on the heels of Madonna best-selling retro-dance CD 'Confession from a Dance Floor.'

Artistically speaking, the concerts are expected to take the CD's lead.

"I think it's going to be all-out dance," said Eamon, an American Madonna fan with tickets to four of the tour's shows. "I think it's going to be some of the old Madonna coming out. I know she's going to do something with the crucifix and she's going to be very, very sexy. So, I think she's going to bring some of the old-school Madonna back: some of the 'erotica,' 'Justify My Love' Madonna back. And I think it's going to be all-out dancing, so that she can prove to herself and everyone how much she loves to dance and how she can still do it."

Even if she had to cross a picket line to get it done.

"C'mon, Madonna is The Material Girl," Eamon replied, with a laugh.

"She's paying people here. She has people that are being employed by her and have families. So, she's probably thinking bigger picture here."