\'Rebecca\' Producer Claims New Financing Is Lined Up for Broadway Musical

September 21, 2012, 6:21 pm

By PATRICK HEALY

A lead producer of the $12 million Broadway musical “Rebecca” said on Friday that he had received new financial commitments from investors to make up a $4.5 million gap in its capitalization budget, and that he had informed cast members that rehearsals could start next week. The investment contracts, however, are still awaiting signatures, according to the producer, Ben Sprecher, who had to cancel an earlier Broadway outing of “Rebecca” last winter because of a lack of funds.

As signs of good faith, Mr. Sprecher said he plans to begin paying cast members on Monday and prepare rehearsal space for them. The show suspended rehearsals two weeks ago.

“I have confidence in the artistry and cas t, but I can't put into words how stressful it's been to put the money in place,” said Mr. Sprecher, who has produced New York plays for years but has never been one of the lead producers on a big-budget Broadway musical before.

In a brief telephone interview, Mr. Sprecher declined to identify the new investors or say if he was putting in his own money into the show, one of the most troubled in recent Broadway history. He has said the budget gap emerged in August after the death of a major investor; he has declined to identify that investor, as he did again on Friday. Three other Broadway producers, as well as an executive involved with “Rebecca,” said Mr. Sprecher told them that the investor was a multimillionaire named Paul Abrams who died last month in London of malaria; The New York Times could not independently confirm Mr. Abrams's existence. Mr. Sprecher, when asked if Mr. Abrams was fictitious, said, “You'll have to go and get that information somewhere else.”

Executives at the Shubert Organization, which has a six-figure investment in “Rebecca” and owns its intended Broadway theater, the Broadhurst, said on Friday they were being flexible with Mr. Sprecher because the death of an investor was beyond his control. Still, they said they could not confirm the investor's existence beyond assurances from Mr. Sprecher that the investor had been planning to put in $2 million and to raise an additional $2.5 million but then had died.

“I've seen documents that indicate to me that there was such an investor, and I would find it very hard to believe that Ben made up this person or did not verify that this person existed,” said Robert E. Wankel, president of the Shubert Organization, which owns 17 of Broadway's 40 theaters. Mr. Wankel also said that he and other Shubert leaders had worked with Mr. Sprecher for years and wanted to be supportive of him and “Rebecca,” which has proved a popular draw during its past productions in Europe.

“We've known and worked with Ben for a long time, and look, Broadway is a very small business and we try to support shows and people we believe in,” Mr. Wankel said. “We just think no one could have this much bad luck. Hopefully the show will get back on track. Then we'll let consumers decide.”

Two cast members said on Friday that Mr. Sprecher had told them he was hoping to start rehearsals by Wednesday, but was not publicly announcing a day until he had all of the money in the bank.

“Ben has been far more forthcoming than most producers are, keeping us in the loop about the status of the show, and I have no reason to doubt him when he says he has the financial commitments in place,” said Nick Wyman, one of the cast members, who is also president of the union Actors' Equity Association. “I think the trump card in Ben's favor, too, is that the Shubert Organization is supporting him he re. The Shubert leaders wouldn't let them themselves be strung along; if they thought Ben was blowing smoke, they would not hold a prime theater for him.”