Ben Sprecher

Ben Sprecher is a Broadway producer and general manager.[1] Sprecher's credits include, as producer, Voices in the Dark (1999), Tony Award-nominee Fortune's Fool (2002), Sly Fox (2004), Mark Twain Tonight! (2005), The Odd Couple (2005–06), Legends (2006–07) starring Joan Collins and Linda Evans, A Moon for the Misbegotten (2007) starring Kevin Spacey and Eve Best, and American Buffalo (2008) starring John Leguizamo and Cedric the Entertainer.

Sprecher is founder and chairman of The Sprecher Organization, and built the Promenade Theatre, the Variety Arts Theatre, and the Little Shubert Theatre. The Sprecher Organization produces and general manages plays and musicals, acts as General Manager and/or Executive Producer for other producers and provides integrated production and marketing services through on-site staff, subsidiaries or affiliated providers.

Rebecca Scandal

In 2012, Sprecher was involved in a scandal surrounding an attempt at mounting the musical Rebecca on Broadway. As the project's lead producer, Sprecher was forced to delay the musical on September 8, 2012, two days before rehearsals were slated to begin, when he announced that a major investor had died. According to Sprecher, this investor had committed $4.5 million, more than a third of the show's $12 million capitalization.[2]

The "deceased investor" was later identified as Paul Abrams, a South African businessman who had allegedly fallen ill after contracting malaria. Sprecher asserted that he had never met Abrams nor had a single conversation with him, despite Abram's investment in the musical.[3] Some members of the Broadway community raised suspicion, including Robert E. Wankel, president of The Shubert Organization and a six-figure investor in Rebecca as well as the owner of its intended theater, the Broadhurst.[4]

On September 26, Sprecher announced to the cast that due to new financial commitments, rehearsals for the musical would now commence on October 1.[5] The day before these rehearsals were about to start, Sprecher announced that he had failed to raise enough funds for the musical. He claimed that a new investor had been lined up and ready to commit, but backed out following an anonymous email advising the individual to distance themselves from the project.[6]

Mark Hotton of West Islip, New York, was revealed as the middleman between Ben Sprecher and Paul Abrams on October 3. A 2011 civil fraud lawsuit against Hotton claimed he had a "long history of criminal misconduct and fraud".[7] Sprecher's lawyer Ronald Russo later announced that Paul Abrams did not exist, and asserted that Sprecher had been tricked by Hotton into believing the validity of Abrams.[8] The case is currently the subject of a criminal investigation by the FBI, though no charges have yet been made.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Ben Sprecher at the Internet Broadway Database.
  2. ↑ "‘Rebecca’ Delayed, Again, After Major Investor Dies". New York Times. September 8, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Were Those Rebecca Investors As Fictional As Maxim de Winter?". Theater Mania. October 8, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  4. ↑ "'Rebecca’ Sees Investor Fade, as if Dreamt". NY TIMES. September 25, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Rebecca Troupers Told First Rehearsal Is Oct. 1". Playbill. September 26, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Rebecca Will Not Open on Broadway This Fall; Producers Claim Investor Scared Away by "Lies"". Playbill. September 30, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  7. ↑ "The $hady guy whose ‘Phantom’ razed the curtain". NY Post. October 3, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Backers bogus: play boss". NY Post. October 8, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  9. ↑ "FBI investigates 'dead' Broadway investor hoax". The Guardian. October 8, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2012.

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