this is "nightline." >> byron: tonight, strike ending? almost five months in, both sides saying a tentative deal has been reached in the writers strike. how long until our favorite shows return? plus alabama brawl. you've seen that viral brawl. now meet the center of that riverside throwdown, speaking out for the first time. >> i was like i'm just doing my

job. >> the dock worker describing the moment he was outnumbered and fought back. >> so it's on. a 16-year-old swimming to his coworker's side. >> i couldn't watch and sit around and let him get beat on. >> byron: and what all the men say should never have happened. and -- ♪ here lies love ♪ >> the broadway disco/musical about the brutal marcos regime of the philippines. david byrne, known for hits like "burning down the house" -- ♪ watch out, you might get what you're after ♪ >> and rockefeller skank dj slim. ♪ check it out now ♪ >> i would give my heart to work with this man. >> the cast and producers like dj cherish the love. >> never believed this was possible.

>> and what david byrne says to critics. >> "nightline" will be right back. new nature's bounty hair growth. help grow thicker, fuller hair with just one capsule a day of advanced hair complex. conquer hair thinning... ...and fall in love with your hair all over again. only from nature's bounty.

♪ >> byron: good evening. thank you for joining us. we begin tonight with a major development in the writers strike. after 146 days, both sides are indicating a tentative agreement has been reached.

if approved tomorrow by union leadership, the deal goes to guild members for approval. hereabc's >> reporter: tonight, after one of the longest strikes in hollywood history, writers and studios reaching a tentative agreement, bringing the entertainment industry one step closer to getting back to business. >> shut it down! >> reporter: neither side has released details, but the wga says the deal is exceptional, with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership. >> they had most of their areas of concern addressed by the studios. one, ai. they have some protections in place that will ensure writers have a future in this industry. the second is residuals. they got a huge bump in residuals in addition to a new bonus structure. >> reporter: writers on talk shows could soon return to work. but most tv and film production is on hold while the actors union, sag-aftra, remains on strike with no talks scheduled.

>> you can't give actors something that you didn't give the writers. so i think this is the blueprint that they're going present to the sag-aftra membership. >> byron: our thanks. we turn to the center of the alabama dock brawl. the lead deck hand speaking out for the first time to abc news, saying he was only doing his job. but when things turned physical, he couldn't simply stand by any longer. >> i didn't expect this to happen at work today. i was expecting another peaceful nice cruise. >> reporter: the minute the center of that violent and viral alabama boat dock brawl. speaking for the first time with abc's robin roberts. >> i was in shock, just straight shock. it was a real crazy situation. >> reporter: the lead deck hand, dameion pickett, seen here in a white uniform telling us how the altercation last month in montgomery, alabama first began.

>> you're on the boat, on the dock. tell us what was going on. >> it was a lot of people that was in the way of us docking, and the boats wouldn't move. we could have docked, but we would end up hitting a couple of the boats and be responsible for it. >> reporter: this illegally parked boat blocking the city's riverboat from docking. >> the dwis that parked that were told not to leave it there, and they left it there. >> reporter: crewmembers making several attempts to ask the owners to move. >> everybody is yelling could y'all move y'all boat? by the captain's order, we got off and moved the boat. forced it to the right. that's it. and i was like i'm just doing my job. after we dock, we don't mind y'all staying there, but not at this time while we're trying to dock. >> what exactly were they saying to you at this time? >> cuss words, violence. alcohol involved. they've got beers in their hands while they on the dock. so i will try my best to ignore them. >> what's going through your mind at the time? >> the people on the boat, their

safety. getting them, in getting everybody off and getting them home. plus, i'm thinking about his boat also, because if i bump his boat, it's going sink. >> reporter: a man confronts him. >> one guy, he's been there before. he knows the rules and regulations. that's why he was asking me, where's the sign. >> reporter: then another man quickly becomes aggressive. dameion tossing his hat, bracing for what's to come. >> this man put his hand on me. it's my job, but i'm still defending myself at the same time. so when he touched me, like it's on. >> reporter: in just seconds, several people outnumbering dameion. one woman seen kicking him while he is down. rushing in to help protect the crewmember, two of dameion's coworker, including his long-time friend who goes by the name ra-ra. >> they did him that way, and no one came to help. me walking up to the guys and

asking them why did you all jump on him like that? and referring to me, who the -- you think you are? and a lot of racial were going on. >> reporter: diving into the scene, 16-year-old aaron. >> it was a light going on. >> what was it that you saw that made you get in that water? >> when they first started hitting on him, no one helped. i couldn't just watch and sit around and just let him get beat on like everybody else just recording. >> have you ever swam that fast before? >> no. >> reporter: in over a decade of dameion working as a crewmember, he says he never imagined a day ending like this. how are you physically right now? >> i'm a little sore, little bumps and bruises here and there. >> reporter: four of the boaters involved now facing misdemeanor assault charges. when asked about the incident, the defendants telling abc news they had no comment. >> they were still fighting. i had responsibility to do.

i was still trying to get their boat in while the fight was still going on. i'm still telling the captain, we got to get these folks here safely to this dock. >> reporter: when that ferry finally docked, some passengers joining in on the fight. one man seen swinging a chair, now charged with disorderly conduct. police confirming these videos are part of their investigation. >> what do you want to say to folks to help them have a better understanding of what it was like and how you feel at this moment? >> there is always a wrong and a right situation. there is always cause and effect. you don't go to work every day thinking about well, i'm going to be violent today. no. i went to work to work, not to be in a fight or get jumped on. >> before y'all start recording and joking and laughing, how about think and help people. he could have got injured and worse. you don't know what could have

happened that day. >> but it's something that i don't have no regrets about. being there for my coworker, being there for my friend, it's something that i always will do and do again if we put in that situation. coming up, "here lies love," the story of brutal dictatorship becoming a broadway at the disco smash. ♪ in 11 days ♪ ♪ 11 days ♪ when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis takes you off course. put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when i wanted to see results fast, rinvoq delivered rapid symptom relief and helped leave bathroom urgency behind. check. when uc tried to slow me down... i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when uc caused damage rinvoq came through by visibly repairing my colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief...

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>> byron: the story of imelda marcos, is now a disco/broadway show. david byrne, the former talking heads frontman enlisting the help of fatboy slim and a group of actors who come from the area with the marcos story naturally, automatically. here is my co-anchor juju chang. >> juju: as celebrity djs go, fatboy slim is a founding father. he is about to perform a live set on a broadway stage. ♪ >> oh, there. >> that will be all right. ♪ ♪ don't stop me now ♪ >> reporter: but this isn't a usual night out at the theater. ♪ for one night only, dance music icon fatboy slim is

turning broadway into a dance floor. ♪ for a stadiums, i'm told you're the most down to earth person there is. >> i couldn't possibly answer that question without appearing not down to earth. >> juju: the seemingly down to earth emmy winning artist helped launch back in the 90s. ♪ funk so rubber, check it out now ♪ >> juju: and produced the award winningly wacky music video starring the dancing christopher walken. fatboy slim's broadway debut could not have happened without another music legend, david byrne, best known as the frontman for the legendary talking heads. ♪ with infectious grooves like "once in a lifetime." ♪ letting the days go by ♪ >> juju: and "burning down the

house." ♪ watch out, you might get what you're after ♪ >> juju: so what was that call like when david byrne says would you like to compose this musical? >> basically, when david byrne phones you up and says do you want to write a musical about the life of imelda marcos, even though you know nothing about musicals and imelda marcos, you say yes. i would give my body parts to work with this man. >> i always wondered if you could do a musical show in a dance club so people could be dancing while they're getting a kind of story. ♪ >> juju: that dance club story is "here lies love," the immersive and electrifying telling of the brutal marcos regime in the philippines. ♪ the first all filipino cast ever to premiere on broadway, along with an historic number of filipino producers like musician

her, and dj cherish the love. >> i've been asked so many times, oh, my gosh, this has got to be a dream come true. and my answer is know, it's totally not, because i never dreamed this because i only dream about thing that i believe are possible, and i never believed this was possible. i get choked up thinking about it. >> juju: the show originally started as a concept album written by byrne and composed with norman cook, aka fatboy slim. >> they say you never meet your heroes. but i would say meet with heroes and work with them. it's still in my head, what would d.b. do? d.b. approach this. >> juju: you had this idea germinating in your head for more than a decade, certainly. what made you start researching the story of the marcoses and imelda? >> i'm old enough to remember when she was on the social scene, fairly outrageous, the wife of a dictator going to discos. and i thought i bet there is a

story. >> i remember, distinctly remember the conversation when he said i see this on broadway. and i remember just thinking good luck with that. ♪ >> juju: as luck would have it, it's now on broadway, a portrait of imelda marcos's rise from poverty to unimaginable wealth, fame, and power after marrying ferdinand marcos. eventually their corrupt dictatorship is toppled by the people of power revolution of 1986. what were you trying to get at here? >> in the first half, i want you empathize with her. she comes from a poor background, and her aspirations. then things very rapidly spin out of control. and i want the audience to feel that. >> juju: and who turns dark. >> yeah, turns dark. oh, we -- we liked you. what happened? ♪ ♪ let's give our people a break ♪

♪ you say ♪ >> juju: the production ripped out hundreds of orchestra seats to make way for the moving stage and 300 standing patrons. it totally works. >> i think it works because it's immersive. the fact that you're in the whole audience is in it with you. >> are you ready to have a good time tonight? >> juju: mosesville rama plays the dj in the show. >> make some noise! >> juju: acting as part hype man and narrate foreinterest crowd. >> the most affecting response from audience members is the filipinos who come, you know, and they say to us, i am so proud of you. thank you. because seeing us on stage to them makes them proud to be filipino. ♪ i am a child of the philippines ♪ >> juju: so i wonder, whether you hesitated at all, that you're essentially two white men telling the story of a philippine dictator? >> yeah, definitely aware.

as soon as i'd written some of the demos, i went to manila. nobody said i was way, way, way offbase. the entire cast is filipino. filipinos on the production team. we're not going to get away with anything. >> juju: on one of his many visits to the philippines, byrne saw dioramas. >> she is creating her own mythology. >> a slight bend. >> most known for her shoe connection. >> 2,200 pairs of shoes. >> that sold me. when you said it's not just about shoes. >> it's too camp. >> when i was growing up, all i knew about imelda marcos was shoes. to tell the story in a truthful but entertaining and emotional way i think is the perfect way of using theater. >> nice to meet you. nice to meet you. >> you too. >> reporter: for villarama, being in this all filipino cast is special. born on a navy base in the

philippines, his parents lived under the marcos dictatorship. >> can i get your autograph too? >> juju: like so in the cast, it's villarama's debut, a opportunity he says he was drawn to by byrne's lyrics. >> there is this poetry that he is able to pack into every single moment of every song that is just astonishing. and so the more and more i listen, the more and more i was like i need to be in this show. >> juju: and the show needs him. as the 90-minute no intermission disco musical takes a poignant turn. >> these are the actual words of the participants of the 1986 people power revolution. >> it's just decoration. >> reporter: for byrne and fatboy slim, the show is also a cautionary tale of the perils of absolute power. ♪ then the darkness begins, there was no time for choices ♪ >> the story ends with the people power revolution when the marcoses are ousted.

peaceful demonstration. i thought that's very moving, and you can't top that. [ cheering ] >> byron: our thanks to juju. up next, flying high together, father and son pilots making their dream come true.

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and finally tonight, a father and son sharing the cockpit. here is abc's david muir. >> tonight, the story of this old family photograph a cherished one and a father encouraging his son to follow his dreams. on the left there, that's southwest pilot ruben flowers jr. on the right, sitting next to him in the cockpit, his young boy, ruben flowers iii. tonight, 29 years later, this is the two of them now. his son following in his father's footsteps. for years, ruben iii would dream of becoming a pilot like his father, watching him head to work in his uniform, that father bringing his young son with him every chance he got. this year ruben iii officially became a pilot for southwest airlines, the same as his father. tonight, after 31 years, his

father is now retiring. but there was one more dream father and son had, to pilot a flight together, and on dad's final flight, southwest documenting the moment. walking to that flight together, their arms around each other, boarding with a thumb's up, checking the controls. passengers then hearing about it and cheering. the captain saying it's time to go. >> thank you. he doesn't know we're late. we got to get out of here. >> and right here tonight, the retired pilot and proud father. >> it was an awesome feeling flying my last flight with my son. follow your dreams. never give up on them. >> and joining us tonight ruben iii, the new pilot, proud to continue his father's legacy. >> the younger version of myself would be so happy and proud. never give up. find a positive support system to get through the tough moments. >> byron: our thanks to david. that's "nightline" for this evening. thanks for the company, americ