The lead producer of the scuttled Broadway musical “Rebecca†said on Tuesday that he did not fabricate the existence and death of a key investor in the show, Paul Abrams, whose identity is now part of a criminal inquiry by the United States attorney's office in Manhattan and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The producer, Ben Sprecher, called off this fall's opening of “Rebecca†on Sunday, saying the $12 million show was short by $4.5 million because of the last-minute loss of investors.
Mr. Sprecher said last month that Mr. Abrams had died of malaria in London in August, but the existence of the man has been cast into doubt, and Mr. Sprecher has acknowledged that he never met or spoke to Mr. Abrams. Federal authorities interviewed the producer last week about Mr. Abrams and other aspects of the production, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation.Mr. Sprecher has said he was connected to Mr. Abrams by a third party, who he and his lawyer, Ronald G. Russo, have declined to identify.
In a brief phone call on Tuesday, Mr. Sprecher, a veteran Off Broadway producer making his first stab as lead producer for a big-budget Broadway musical, said: “I never made up or fabricated any investor, and I never made up Paul Abrams.â€
He also said that he was developing a new production of “Rebecca†that he hoped to mount soon, on Broadway or elsewhere; he declined to answer questions about that effort or the criminal investigation.
Renewing the effort to stage “Rebecca,†which had been popular in earlier runs in Europe but is untried in the United States, could delay the legal liability for Mr. Sprecher's company, which would owe millions of dollar to investors if the show never opens.
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