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NEW YORK (AP) ― A showdown devoid of holiday cheer enveloped Radio City Music Hall on Thursday, where the annual "Christmas Spectacular" went on with recorded music today, even after striking musicians showed up for work.

Union President David Lennon of the American Federation of Musicians Local 802 said they are ready to play unconditionally and immediately, "but apparently we've been locked out."

"We have agreed to all of their contract terms, and we're willing to go in unconditionally with or without a signed contract," said union member Tom Olcott, his trombone over his shoulder outside the stage door Thursday morning. A growing crowd of union musicians on West 51st Street joined him.

The show, a holiday fixture for seven decades, ordinarily draws tens of thousands of revelers every Christmas season. But the labor dispute between the two sides raised questions about this year's show, as stagehands already walked out in support of the musicians.

On Thursday morning, a phone hotline at Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians told members: "All Radio City Hall musicians are scheduled to play the 11 a.m. performance on Thursday, and are to report to the stage door at 10:30, dressed and ready to work."

However, a management spokeswoman said Radio City planned to put on the show with recorded music done by a 55-piece orchestra.

"The musicians went on strike and did not show up for rehearsals, so they cannot then decide to come back on a whim or without a contract," said spokeswoman Mikyl Cordova.

The audience for the 11 a.m. show, the first of the season, was told to proceed inside the building as usual. Howard Frydman, who came down from Bloomfield, Conn., said. "Sure, you feel a little disappointed," he said. "We'll just make the best of it."

The musicians walked out Wednesday. The main issues are salaries and overtime pay. The orchestra's contract expired in May, and the union blamed Radio City Entertainment, which produces the Christmas show, for the breakdown of talks. Radio City Music Hall is owned by Long Island-based Cablevision.

On Wednesday night, a preseason performance was canceled and ticketholders were left disappointed as several dozen musicians picketed outside the Manhattan landmark. The show, featuring the precision dancing of the world-famous Rockettes dance troupe, is known around the world.

Tickets for the show run as high as $250.

The union accuses Cablevision Systems Corp., which operates Radio City, of vastly underpaying musicians who put on several shows a day throughout the holiday season. In a statement, Radio City said it had offered the musicians increases in salary and benefits "over what is already the most lucrative contract in the industry."

Stagehands for the show walked out to back the musicians, said James Claffey Jr., president of Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. He would not comment on whether the walkout would continue Thursday.

The position of the union-represented Rockettes on the strike was not immediately clear.

The Rockettes reached a contract agreement with Radio City Entertainment last month. A message left for the union representing the Rockettes, the American Guild of Variety Artists, was not immediately returned.

More than a dozen Broadway musicals went dark in March 2003 for four days after the musicians' union walked out, and theaters lost millions of dollars in revenue. But when the union struck the New York City Ballet in 2000, performances of "The Nutcracker" went on as scheduled with taped music.

Last week, hundreds of musicians and supporters held a boisterous, music-filled protest on Sixth Avenue in front of Radio City Music Hall.

Union negotiator Mark Johansen said previously that Radio City Entertainment was trying to cut the musicians' base pay of $133 per show, which he said was about $40 less than what standard Broadway musicians are paid. At the height of the Christmas season, the orchestra works as many as six 90-minute shows every day -- at overtime pay beyond the first two. The musicians must play at least 12 shows a week.

On average, Johansen said, a musician doing 150 of about 200 shows in the run would make about $25,000; orchestra members also receive very basic year-round health benefits.

(© 2005 CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)