LAS VEGAS

Magician David Copperfield says he will cross the picket line and perform tonight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where musicians are on strike over the use of taped music in many hotel showrooms. Copperfield traditionally performs to taped music; in the past, the hotel has hired a house orchestra to play for the opening act or to play an overture. “This time there will be no house orchestra and it makes our point stronger--that the hotels do intend to use taped music in their star policy rooms and they have no intention of hiring house orchestras,” Mark Tully Massagli, president of Musicians Local 369, said Tuesday. Bill Medley, who was scheduled to appear with Copperfield, has canceled in support of the strike, which began in June. The musicians went on strike after five Las Vegas hotels refused to eliminate a new contract stipulation allowing the use of taped music.