Lawsuit

‘REBECCA’ PRODUCER SEEKS NEW TRIAL AGAINST PRESS AGENT

February 28, 2019 by Philip Boroff

EXCLUSIVE: Ben Sprecher‘s six-year campaign to hold his former press agent accountable for the collapse of his musical and reputation has been cleared for another courtroom showdown.

Earlier this month, an appellate court declined to intervene in the producer’s lawsuit against publicist Marc Thibodeau, opening the door for a second trial relating to the aborted musical Rebecca. At issue are emails that the press agent sent to a prospective backer in September 2012, linking Sprecher to a fraud.

Sprecher is “radioactive in the theater community and unable to find work,” the producer’s lead lawyer, Erik Groothuis of Schlam Stone & Dolan, wrote in an October 2018 brief in New York Supreme Court. Thibodeau “torpedoed both the musical, and my career with it,” Sprecher said in a 2017 sworn statement.Continue Reading

‘NERDS’ CRASH HIGHLIGHTS WEAK INVESTOR PROTECTION

February 6, 2019 by Philip Boroff

EXCLUSIVE: Ticketmaster and Telecharge say they refund theatergoers for cancelled performances.

It’s a different story for investors in shows that get cancelled before opening night. Exhibit A: Nerds, the musical.

In early 2016, Nerds Broadway LLC collected $606,000 from 13 angels who wanted in on the comedy about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

Four days after receiving the last of the checks and less than two months before the scheduled Broadway opening, lead producer Carl Levin announced Nerds’ indefinite postponement. He cited the loss of a major backer.

Until recent years, a production company that abandoned a show was obligated to make investors whole, except the investors who waived their right to a refund.Continue Reading

RUDIN, TENNESSEE WILLIAMS ESTATE TENTATIVELY SETTLE ‘GLASS MENAGERIE’ LAWSUIT

February 8, 2018 by Philip Boroff

Joe Mantello and Sally Field/Julieta Cervantes

EXCLUSIVE: A promising Broadway courtroom drama appears to be closing out of town.

Scott Rudin and the University of the South have agreed in principle to settle the University’s lawsuit alleging that Rudin’s production company failed to pay royalties on his Glass Menagerie revival starring Joe Mantello and Sally Field. Lawyers for both sides filed papers in Federal Court in Tennessee disclosing the tentative deal yesterday, exactly a year after the play began previews at the Belasco Theatre.