Ben Sprecher News

Lead producers Ben Sprecher and Louise Forlenza, announced today that REBECCA, the musical based on the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier, has officially extended its rights through December 31, 2014 and is eyeing a Winter 2014 start. They are now joined by Co Producers Steven Colson, Peter Bezemes and Barbara Sellinger, along with the previously announced co-producers, who all remained committed to the project.

According to the New York Times, the Securities and Exchange Commission will not take action against the producers of REBECCA. The new musical, which was originally scheduled to open on Broadway last fall, was cancelled after it was discovered that several of the show's investors never existed. A recent letter from the SEC to the producers' lawyers indicated that their 'investigation of the producing team was complete and no enforcement actions would be pursued.'

The New York Daily News reports that Mark C. Hotton admitted today, July 29, to conning funds from Broadway's REBECCA THE MUSCIAL by fictionalizing millionaire investors. Hotton said the scam was part of a plan to keep $65,000 in finder's fees. Hotton also plead guilty to a similar scheme with a Connecticut real estate firm, and will be tried tomorrow in Long Island in a money laundering conspiracy connected to Brooklyn's Maimonides Medical Center.

Back in April, BroadwayWorld reported that lead producer of REBECCA, Ben Sprecher, still intended to bring the new msuical to Broadway by the end of the year. After the Fall 2012 production was cancelled, Sprecher revealed to BroadwayWorld that another $7 million would be needed to reach the $15 million needed to bring the show to Broadway. For the show to open by the end of the year, the musical needed to raise an additional $7 million by the end of June.

As an online companion to Vanity Fair's feature article on Rebecca the Musical's scandalous Broadway collapse, David Kamp takes readers behind the scenes at Rebecca's first and only rehearsal.

Vanity Fair has dedicated a June 2013 feature article to uncovering the scandals that led to Rebecca the Musical's Broadway demise.

Lead producer of Rebecca, the Broadway musical that was cancelled last Fall, is still intent on bringing the show to Broadway this year. Sprecher told BroadwayWorld that the producing team has brought in an additional $2 million for the production. Another $7 million will need to be raised to reach the $15 million needed to bring the show to Broadway. If the show is to open by the end of 2013, the fundraising goal must be reached by the end of June, and if things go as planned, Sprecher intends to begin rehearsals in October 2013.

The drama surrounding Rebecca, the Broadway musical that was cancelled last Fall, continues to grow, as Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is now investigating what happened bewteen lead producer Ben Sprecher and potential investors for the show. The SEC is reortedly specifically looking into 'whether Sprecher misled a prospective investor, Larry Runsdorf.'

2013's Broadway drama continues to unfold surrounding the musical REBECCA. According to The New York Times, the publicist who formerly represented REBECCA, Marc Thibodeau, has asked the State Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit put forth by the show's producers that accuses Thibodeau of 'defamation and breach of contract and fiduciary duty' for allegedly 'scaring off' a last-minute investor. Thibodeau is arguing that he only warned the potential investor that REBECCA's producers had been taken in by a fraud scheme.

Today, Michael Riedel reveals that potential investor, who has now been drawn into the controversy is Larry Runsdorf, who the drug manufacturing firm Breckenridge Inc. in 1983 and now lives in Boca Raton. Riedel writes:

Now, Sprecher's attorneys have responded with a new statement of their own: 'Today Rebecca Broadway Limited Partnership and Sprecher/Forlenza Productions, Inc, sued Marc Thibodeau, for $ 100,000,000 based on his breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract as their press agent for the production of Rebecca. As the complaint details, Thibodeau, as the production's press agent, learned that an 'angel' investor was willing to invest the money needed to put the show back on track for a 2012 opening, subject to the condition that the investor insisted on remaining anonymous. Using a false name, Thibodeau first emailed the investor's attorneys, calling their attention to press articles in the NY Times and the NY Post about the production's financial problems that everyone with an interest in the theatre had already seen. When that tactic failed to deter the 'angel' from proceeding, Thibodeau used a different false name to contact the 'angel' directly, alerting the investor that his identity had leaked to at least one individual hostile to the production. Within hours, the 'angel' withdrew his support, requiring that Rebecca, The Musical be postponed yet again.

'Ben Sprecher is now suing the innocent whistleblower with an impeccable reputation on Broadway who anonymously warned an innocent investor not to sink $2 million into the sinking ship that was Rebecca after he learned that the entire Paul Abrams saga was indeed a fraud.

According to a new update from the New York Times, REBECCA's lead producer, Ben Sprecher, is hopeful that the show might make it to Broadway in the coming 2013 season. He told the Times that he believes the necessary funds to mount the show can be raised because of 'the widespread publicity and notoriety surrounding the show after the fraud scheme was revealed.'

A legendary flop gets a second chance, a fabled night spot closes as a new one opens and a mysterious investor supposedly dies of malaria. These were just a few of the stories and issues theatre lovers talked about in 2012.

BroadwayWorld brings you the Best of Central PA in the year 2012. Check out the Top Theatre Stories from each month during in the year 2012. We look forward to another exciting year of theatre in 2013!

Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that the stock broker has been under investigation since 2009 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, in 12 different cases.

Last week's poll asked if you think the show will ever make its way to Broadway. Check out the tight results below!

Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that the stock broker has been under investigation since 2009 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, in 12 different cases.

New BroadwayWorld.com Poll - Will REBECCA Ever Find Its Way to Broadway?

Now according to the New York Post, producers of the show will file a $100 million lawsuit against Hotton, for taking 'tens of thousands of dollars in advances on commissions for bringing in non-existent backers.'