Garth Drabinsky | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 27, 1949 [1] |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation(s) | Film and theatrical producer and entrepreneur |
Garth Drabinsky (born 1949) [2] is a Canadian film and theatrical producer and entrepreneur. In 2009, he was convicted and sentenced to prison for fraud and forgery. The sentence was reduced from 7 to 5 years in prison, on appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear a subsequent appeal. In April 2023, a judge dismissed Drabinsky’s defamation lawsuit against American Actor’s Equity for placing him on their ‘Do Not Work’ list. Drabinsky has attempted 3 comebacks all resulting in failure and millions of investor dollars being lost.
Drabinsky got polio at age 3 and had multiple operations until he was 12. [3] Born to a Jewish family [4] in Toronto, Ontario, [2] Drabinsky graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1973, and was called to the bar in Ontario in 1975. [5]
Drabinsky wrote a textbook, Motion Pictures and the Arts in Canada: The Business and the Law, while attending law school. [3]
Entering into the entertainment business in 1978 as an independent commercial film producer (through Tiberius Entertainment Limited, formed with Joel Michaels) [6] and film distributor (through Pan-Canadian Film Distributors Inc., formed with Nat Taylor). [7]
Drabinsky produced a series of projects in the 1970s and 1980s. He produced A Broadway Musical , The Disappearance , The Silent Partner , The Changeling , Tribute , The Amateur , Losin' It . However, he stopped producing films due to financial problems at Cineplex. [8]
In April 1979, he and Nat Taylor co-founded Cineplex Theatres, which created a chain of multiplex theatres for the Canadian market. By May 1984, it had acquired the Canadian Odeon Theatre chain, thus becoming Cineplex Odeon and a major player in the industry. [7] It expanded further through the acquisition of several US theatre chains, but he left the company in December 1989.
Other films:
He leveraged his ownership of the Pantages Theatre in Toronto to form the publicly traded theatre production company, Live Entertainment Corporation of Canada, Inc., also known as Livent. [7] The company expanded, building or refurbishing several theatres, including the Oriental Theatre in Chicago, and entered into management deals with others in Toronto, Vancouver, and New York. It became noted for its productions (which earned a total of 20 Tony Awards out of a total of 71 nominations) of:
Beginning in 2002, Drabinsky dabbled for a few years with the Toronto-based film production and direct marketing company, Visual Bible International Inc. (OTCBB: VBII). Although he and Livent co-founder Myron Gottlieb were both purported to be creative consultants to the company, they were instrumental in building VBII's business model and trying to find an American executive to serve as president and CEO to serve as a mouthpiece to Wall Street. They were indeed running the company behind the scenes as fugitives from American prosecutors. One executive who was recruited by the executive search firm Korn Ferry and offered the position, Stuart Hotchkiss, [10] a former Time Inc. executive, declined the job after learning about Drabinsky's and Gottlieb's legal woes and being told by then company chairman and Toronto dentist, Dr. Steven Small, that he would not be able to fire either consultant should the need arise. VBII was put into receivership by an Ontario court in 2005.
Drabinsky remained in the Canadian entertainment industry through Tiberius Entertainment [11] (which later was known as Garth H. Drabinsky Productions). [12] In 2011, it promoted the film Barrymore at the Toronto International Film Festival, based on the play with Christopher Plummer.[ citation needed ] Drabinsky then partnered with former CBC executive Richard Stursberg to raise funds for two musicals. [13]
In 2022, Drabinsky was the lead producer for the Broadway musical Paradise Square . It began previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City on March 15, 2022, and opened on April 3, 2022 [14] receiving mixed reviews, and earning Drabinsky a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical. On July 11, 2022, it was announced the musical would close on July 17 due to low ticket sales. [15] After several cast members and stage managers spoke out against the working conditions and unpaid benefits, Actors' Equity announced plans to put Drabinsky on the "Do Not Work" list, effectively banning him from producing any future Broadway shows. [16]
In November 1998, Livent sought bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada, claiming a debt of $334 million, [17] and securities regulators in both Canada and the US began investigating Livent's books.
On March 25, 2009, Drabinsky and Livent co-founder Myron Gottlieb were found guilty of fraud and forgery in Ontario Superior Court for misstating the company's financial statements between 1993 and 1998. [18] Drabinsky was sentenced to seven years in jail on August 5, 2009, for his role in the case. [19]
Drabinsky filed an appeal in the Ontario Court of Appeal with respect to his sentence on September 3, 2009. [20] During that appeal, he remained free on bail. On September 13, 2011, the Court of Appeal, while upholding the convictions, reduced Drabinsky's sentence to 5 years. [21] Drabinsky applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, and the application was dismissed without costs on March 29, 2012. [22] [23] Drabinsky was originally held at Millhaven Institution, for assessment. In December 2011, he was transferred to serve out his sentence at Beaver Creek Institution, a minimum security prison, located in Gravenhurst, Ontario, [24] and was released on day parole in February 2013. [11] Drabinsky was granted full parole on January 20, 2014. [25]
Administrative proceedings were initiated against Livent, Drabinsky and others by the Ontario Securities Commission in 2001, [26] and they were suspended in 2002 until all outstanding criminal proceedings had been completed. [27] In February 2013, the OSC announced that hearings would take place on March 19, 2013, in the matter. [28] Myron Gottlieb and Gordon Eckstein, who were the other parties in the proceedings, subsequently entered into settlement agreements with the OSC in September 2014 and May 2015 respectively. [29] [30]
In 2017, the Ontario Securities Commission permanently banned Drabinsky from becoming a director or officer of any public company in Ontario. The OSC also prohibited him from acting as an investment promoter, and banned him from trading securities (other than as a retail investor, for trades within his RRSP or through a registered dealer for accounts in his name only). [31] [32] [33]
In January 1999, Livent reached an administrative settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, [34] while civil and criminal proceedings were simultaneously pursued against Drabinsky, Gottlieb and certain other former Livent employees. [35]
In 2005, former investors in Livent corporate bonds won a $23.3 million judgment against Drabinsky and Gottlieb in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, [36] for which enforcement of the judgment was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2008. [37]
On June 25, 2019, legal authorities in New York dismissed all outstanding criminal charges against Drabinsky (almost 20 years after accusing him of fraud involving Livent Inc.) with prejudice. Assistant United States attorney, Sarah Eddy, said the dismissal is appropriate because Mr. Drabinsky had already been prosecuted in Canada for the fraud. While the outstanding charges had been dormant for many years, they impeded Mr. Drabinsky from being able to travel to the United States, for fear of extradition. [38] Drabinsky is now free to travel to-and-from the United States, and has been doing so frequently while working on his new musical, Paradise Square (formerly titled, Hard Times).
On July 17, 2014, Drabinsky was disbarred by the Tribunal of the Law Society of Upper Canada [39] for unbecoming conduct, having been found guilty of defrauding the public and forging certain financial statements. The Tribunal's order, effective immediately, revoked his licence to practice law in the province of Ontario. [40]
On November 29, 2012, Governor General David Johnston signed an Ordinance of Termination revoking Drabinsky's membership in the Order of Canada, originally conferred in 1995 in the Officer grade. [41] Drabinsky subsequently filed an application in the Federal Court of Canada to block his removal, [42] which was dismissed on January 9, 2014. [43] He subsequently appealed the decision to the Federal Court of Appeal. The appeal was heard in December 2014, [44] and rejected the following month, [45] when the court held that there was "no basis" for it to intervene in the matter. [46]
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, is a Canadian and British former newspaper publisher, businessman, and writer.
Cineplex Odeon Corporation was one of North America's largest movie theatre operators and live theatre, with theatres in its home country of Canada and the United States. The Cineplex Odeon brand is still being used by Cineplex Entertainment at some theatres that were once owned by the Cineplex Odeon Corporation, with newer theatres using the Cineplex Cinemas brand. The company was the result of Cineplex Corporation in 1984 purchasing and merging with Canadian Odeon Theatres, which itself was the result of a merger between Canadian Theatres and Odeon Theatres of Canada in 1978.
Colm Wilkinson, also known as C. T. Wilkinson, is an Irish singer and actor who is best known for originating the lead role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and for creating the title role in The Phantom of the Opera (1985) preview at the Sydmonton Festival and the original Canadian production.
Jason Robert Brown is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for his work on Parade and The Bridges of Madison County.
The Meridian Arts Centre is a performing arts venue in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It opened on October 16, 1993, as the North York Performing Arts Centre and was designed by Canadian architect Eberhard Zeidler for musicals, theatre productions and other performing arts. At opening, North York awarded management of the centre to Livent, which sold the naming rights in 1994 to Ford Motor Company of Canada. It became the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts. Later, it debranded as the Toronto Centre for the Arts.
Sweet Smell of Success is a musical created by Marvin Hamlisch (music), Craig Carnelia (lyrics), and John Guare (book). The show is based on the 1957 movie of the same name, which in turn was based on the 1955 novelette of the same name by Ernest Lehman. The show tells the story of a powerful newspaper columnist named J. J. Hunsecker who uses his connections to ruin his sister's relationship with a man he deems inappropriate.
The Ed Mirvish Theatre is a historic performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, located near Yonge–Dundas Square. Owned and operated by Mirvish Productions, the theatre has approximately 2,300 seats across two levels. There are two entrances to the theatre, located at 263 Yonge Street and 244 Victoria Street.
Victoria Clark is an American actress, musical theatre soprano, and director. Clark has performed in numerous Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television works. Her voice can also be heard on various cast albums and in several animated films. In 2008, she released her first solo album titled Fifteen Seconds of Grace. A five-time Tony Award nominee, Clark won her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 2005 for her performance in The Light in the Piazza. She also won the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and the Joseph Jefferson Award for the role. She won a second Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 2023 for her performance in Kimberly Akimbo.
Appointees to the Order of Canada can have their membership revoked if the order's advisory council determines a member's actions have brought dishonour to the order. Eight people have been removed from the Order of Canada: Alan Eagleson, David Ahenakew, T. Sher Singh, Steve Fonyo, Garth Drabinsky, Conrad Black, Ranjit Chandra, and Johnny Issaluk. Eagleson was removed from the order after being jailed for fraud in 1998; Ahenakew was removed in 2005, after being convicted of promoting anti-Semitic hatred in 2002; Singh was removed after the revocation of his law licence for professional misconduct; Fonyo was removed due to numerous criminal convictions; Drabinsky was removed in 2012 after being found guilty of fraud and forgery in Ontario; Black was removed in 2014 after being convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice in the United States; Chandra was removed in 2015 for committing research fraud; Issaluk was removed in 2022 following sexual misconduct allegations. The formal removal process is performed by the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, though it can be initiated by any citizen of Canada.
The Live Entertainment Corporation of Canada, better known as Livent, was a theatre production company based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1989 by former Cineplex Odeon executives Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb, the company initially found success with its production of The Phantom of the Opera at its Pantages Theatre in Toronto. In 1993, they brought Kiss of the Spider Woman to Broadway, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical. They became known for lavish productions with their 1994 revival of Show Boat, and their ambitious 1998 original musical Ragtime.
The Lyric Theatre is a Broadway theater at 214 West 43rd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1998, the theater was designed by Richard Lewis Blinder of Beyer Blinder Belle, in collaboration with Peter Kofman, for Garth Drabinsky and his company Livent. The Lyric Theatre was built using parts of two former theaters on the site: the Apollo Theatre, built in 1920 to a design by Eugene De Rosa, and the old Lyric Theatre, built in 1903 to a design by Victor Hugo Koehler. The theater contains 1,622 seats across three levels and is operated by Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG). The theater building is owned by the city and state governments of New York and was developed by New 42nd Street.
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Paradise Square is a stage musical, with music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Masi Asare and Nathan Tysen, and a book by Christina Anderson, Larry Kirwan and Craig Lucas. Set in New York City during the Civil War and the New York City draft riots, the musical follows conflict between Irish Americans and Black Americans. The production is directed by Moisés Kaufman and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, with intimacy direction by Gaby Labotka. The musical opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on April 3, 2022.
Bernard Todd Haimes was an American artistic director. He held various roles at Roundabout Theatre Company from 1983 until his death in 2023. Haimes was recognized for rescuing the company from bankruptcy and transforming the theater into one of the most prominent and expansive nonprofit ensembles in the United States.
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