THE GREAT COMET LITIGATIONS OF 2016

In light of the very comprehensive advertising campaign that began this summer, it's hard to believe that anyone interested in Broadway theatre would be surprised to learn that Josh Groban is making his Broadway debut in NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 right now. The show is currently in previews and is scheduled to open on November 14.That's the good kind of publicity. For the second time this year, though, this Broadway bound production has found itself the focus of a significant amount of negative publicity.On June 23, Michael Riedel of the New York Post reported that of the estimated $12-14 million dollar Broadway budget, $6.5 million was designated as developmental and enhancement costs. In common terms, that means that the Producers are reimbursing themselves and their investors for every dollar spent on every production of the show (of which there were several) prior to the Broadway production. Riedel rightly quoted veteran Broadway producers as viewing this level of reimbursement is "steep" and unprecedented. It also means that people may be reimbursed for monies reported to the IRS as losses in previous years.In the last week, Reidel and a number of other journalists have reported on a legal dispute about the show. The show was originally commissions by Ars Nova, an off-Broadway not-for-profit theatre. Ars Nova claims it has a contractual right to receive above-the-title billing indicating that the Broadway production is in fact "the Ars Nova production of" the show. Reportedly, previous versions of the title page for the program for the show did contain the billing Ars Nova seeks; however, the final version does not.Early reports revealed a remarkable level of vitriol. The cast of THE GREAT COMET were scheduled to perform at the Ars Nova annual benefit; the Broadway production announced it might schedule cast recording sessions that night to preclude the cast from appearing. Fourteen member of Ars Nova had purchased tickets to the initial preview performance of the show, but were told they would be physically removed from the theatre should they try to attend.And then things got worse. On Friday, Ars Nova commenced two litigations over the billing issue; one against the production itself and one against Howard Kagan, lead producer of the Broadway production and former board member of Ars Nova.I've seen a lot of conflicts over a lot of issues on productions over the years, and I generally tell people that once you file a lawsuit or get sued your production is dead. If your production is not yet capitalized and finds itself in litigation, potential investors will flee. If you're production is up and running, you now have the additional cost of litigation((for the record, it's not clear that the intentional altering of Ars Nova's billing would be covered by insurance). So I'm surprised that this dispute, so easily remedied, has erupted to this degree. Yet, here we are.So, what does this mean? Time will tell. The show opens on November 14, and its success will depend in great part on its reviews. Will the press report on these disputes in those reviews? Probably. Will these disputes color the opinions of reviewers? Possibly. It may well be that by denying Ars Nova its billing and doubling down on the nasty, THE GREAT COMET producers have snatched defeat form the jaws of victory. Simply correcting the billing and apologizing would have been a public relations coup. But the production went the other way.Projecting further into the future, Tony Award nominations can be crucial to the long term success of a show. Will Tony voters, theatre professionals all, tax the producers of THE GREAT COMET over this billing dispute? It would not be a surprising development.And what of Ars Nova? THE GREAT COMET is the theatre's greatest success to date, and has the potential of launching Ars Nova into the realm of New York City not-for-profits that develop commercially successful productions, like The Public Theatre or New York Theatre Workshop. Will future commercial producers balk at doing business with Ars Nova in light of the fact that Ars Nova sued both the production and the producer personally? Time will tell.One thing is for certain. When the attention of the press and the public is drawn away from what's happening on stage to focus on how the Broadway sausage is made, the production and all parties involved are hobbled. In the hand-tp-hand combat arena which is the modern Broadway theatre industry, these self-inflicted wounds are going to take a long time to heal - if they ever do.