Dramatic Cast Changes at Livent

▪ 1999

      On Nov. 18, 1998, Canadian-based Livent Inc., the first publicly traded company whose business was live theatre, filed for bankruptcy. Founders Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb were fired, and a $225 million civil damage suit alleging fraud and unjust enrichment was filed against the two and a Gottlieb-controlled company.

      Originally established in 1989 as Live Entertainment Inc. by former Cineplex Odeon movie theatre executives Drabinsky and Gottlieb to produce lavish musicals for Cineplex's chain of legitimate theatres, the enterprise, renamed Livent, went public in 1993 on the strength of the hugely successful Toronto run of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera.

      As spectacular production values escalated the costs of Broadway musicals during the 1980s, making it impossible for even sold-out shows to break even in less than a year, theatre owners began to join in partnership with producers in order to keep their theatres in use. Drabinsky and Gottlieb sought to surmount the big-budget jitters by selling shares in a chain of theatres and a roster of shows instead of expensive limited partnerships in individual shows. Elaborate revivals of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Show Boat (which opened in Toronto in October 1993) followed, complete with huge advertising campaigns beginning more than a year in advance of openings in some markets. Livent's new musicals won multiple Tony awards; Kiss of the Spider Woman took seven (including best musical), and Ragtime garnered four.

      Livent's fortunes began to sour in 1997, when the company posted its first losses, largely due to heavy investments in theatre construction and renovation. By 1998 Livent's theatrical real estate included the 2,200-seat Pantages Theatre in downtown Toronto and several theatres seating more than 1,800—the Ford Center(s) for the Performing Arts in northern Toronto, Vancouver, B.C., New York City, and Chicago. Lacklustre performances by some Show Boat road companies also contributed to financial woes.

      In the 15 months prior to June 1998, when Michael Ovitz, a $20 million investor, and New York investment banker Roy Furman assumed the top board positions, Livent lost $50 million. Drabinsky, however, remained as artistic director. While preparing second-quarter financial reports, auditors discovered serious accounting irregularities, including inflated earnings, expenses shuffled between productions, and unreported expenses. Canadian and American securities regulators suspended trading of Livent stock on August 10, and the new management team suspended Drabinsky and Gottlieb while a forensic audit was conducted. Standard & Poor's downgraded Livent's credit rating from B+ to BB-. After filing for bankruptcy in November, Livent canceled one of its traveling productions of Ragtime. More than 100 employees in Toronto were laid off on November 25.

      In the wake of the financial crisis, plans to develop a 1,400-seat theatre in a Toronto hotel-condominium complex south of the Pantages and a 500-seat theatre in New York City's Times Square were shelved. Todd Haimes of New York's Roundabout Theater, who specialized in producing on tight budgets, was named artistic director.

BRUCE CANTWELL

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