Entertainment lawyer, Broadway producer and investor James L. Walker Jr. has filed a lawsuit against the producers of the latest production of “Cabaret” to find out why he hasn’t gotten paid.
“Investors have not received any profits despite the show grossing nearly $100 million to date,” Walker said.
Walker was one of multiple investors who collectively raised nearly $25 million to help mount the production.
The musical opened in April 2024 starring Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee, followed by Adam Lambert, Orville Peck and Billy Porter. It’s set to close on Sept. 21.
“They’ve told us repeatedly they made no money so we’ll get nothing,” Walker said.
His lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges the producers have refused to provide access to an accounting of partnership records and finances. He accuses them of running “a deliberate scheme intended to strip him and other[s]” of their investments and profits.
“Sometimes the little guy has to stand up and fight,” he said.
The producers of “Cabaret” have denied Walker’s claims of a scheme, telling Deadline the show is not “in a position fiscally to make any distribution to investors.”
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Some 35 members of the film crew that first worked on “People Not Places” starring Shirley MacLaine have also not been paid.
The crew of the low-budget movie, which shot in Atlantic City, obtained a nearly $673,000 judgment against Jeff Katz, the principal financier, according to Variety.
But Katz, who acknowledges the judgement, has seemingly refused to pay.
“They can’t enforce a judgment against me,” he told the trade publication. “They can only put [liens] on things I have in New Jersey — which I don’t have.”
I spoke to five of the unpaid crew, who said they worked for weeks during pre-production in the spring of 2024.
“The movie was shut down prior to shooting,” assistant director Dave Wechsler told me. “We were all sent home and told the movie was canceled.”
But then a new crew was hired and filming began again.
MacLaine, 91, plays a widow who meets a homeless man, portrayed by Stephen Dorff. Their shared loneliness brings them together.
Actor Gregg Bello was driven from the Hamptons to Atlantic City to shoot a big scene with MacLaine and Dorff.
“I worked a day and a half. I got paid overtime. I thought it was really cool,” he said.
Bello had no idea about the unpaid crew members: “I’m a low man on the totem pole.”
Many members of the initial crew took the job after suffering from a lack of work caused by COVID. One lost his apartment. Another lost his health insurance.
Producing partner Robyn Davis said, “We had crew members who went homeless, literally.”
The film, originally set for release this month, has yet to be seen.
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Businessman Wilbur Ross, who learned about rockets when he was secretary of commerce under President Trump, has invested in iRocket with plans to launch thousands of satellites into orbit.
Ross thinks he can beat fellow rocketeers Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos because his missiles are fully reusable within 24 hours.
“The demand for satellites keeps going up,” Ross told me. “We are just beginning to know how to use them.”
One of iRocket’s early-stage investors, venture capital firm Village Global, is backed by visionaries like Bill Gates, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who serves as Village Global’s chairman.
We already use satellites for cellphones, GPS devices and smart home systems — and the technology keeps improving, Ross said.
“From 1,000 miles up, a satellite can see if your shoes are tied.”
Ross and Asad Malik, founder and CEO of iRocket, were in Paris this weekend ahead of the World Space Business Week conference.
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Isabelle Bscher, the third generation of her family to run Galerie Gmurzynska, is celebrating the art gallery’s 60th anniversary with the Tuesday opening of her new salon in the Fuller Building at Madison Avenue and 57th Street.
Bscher, who also has locations in Zurich and Zug, Switzerland, is inaugurating the space with an exhibition of works by Joan Miró and Roberto Matta.
When Miró passed away in 1983, Matta said, “An angel died who had the gift of making color drip onto canvases, magically, in the right place … now I am the last dinosaur.”
Bscher, who has shown the works of everyone from Pablo Picasso to Sylvester Stallone, is still amused by the eating habits of Christo, who created “The Gates” installation in Central Park in 2005.
“Christo had weird ideas about health,” Bscher told me. “For breakfast, he had plain yogurt with a whole clove of garlic.”
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The Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel is not just for mourning.
The Madison Avenue space where John Lennon, Joan Rivers, Rita Hayworth, Ivana Trump, James Cagney and many others had their funerals is now hosting happier events.
Tripp Whetsell is launching his book “Norman Lear: His Life and Times” there on Monday, Sept. 29.
His author friend Susan Shapiro will moderate a Q&A, and Whetsell promised “several New York-based actors who appeared in some of Norman Lear’s classic sitcoms.”
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Hayworth, whose co-stars included Cary Grant, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, died at 68 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Her daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, founded a gala in her honor that has raised more than $90 million since 1984.
The princess said that this year’s edition of the Alzheimer’s Association Imagine Benefit, being held Oct. 22 at the Plaza Hotel, will honor skincare mogul Peter Thomas Roth for “his commitment to the mission.”
She added, “Alzheimer’s remains a national crisis, affecting over 7 million Americans, including over 427,000 New Yorkers, and places an enormous burden on the more than 11 million caregivers who walk this journey alongside their loved ones.”
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If law enforcement had their version of the Oscars, this would be it.
The Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation will host its annual Ridge Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Oct. 14.
The charitable entity recognizes outstanding achievements of valor by the FBI, Secret Service, ATF, CBP, DEA and others. Money raised helps the families of fallen agents.
Executive Director John DeVito tells me the organization is growing: “We’ve added West Coast and South Florida chapters and want to become a full formal foundation with corporate sponsors to help more families.”
A live auction will include a table at Rao’s with former NYPD detective Bo Dietl, who’s been a regular at the exclusive East Harlem eatery since 1977. Dietl promised to jump onstage to auction his table personally.
Others expected to attend include Rita Cosby, Joe Piscopo and John and Margo Catsimatidis. Tickets are available at fehsf.org.
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Joseph Hernandez, an independent candidate for mayor, believes crime is the biggest issue in New York City.
“I don’t remember New York City being this dangerous. It’s insanity,” said the entrepreneur, who emigrated from Cuba at the age of 7 to flee the communist regime of Fidel Castro.
If Hernandez becomes mayor — a long shot — he plans to increase the police force by 10,000 new cops, and stop fare-beaters on the subway.
“Why are turnstiles so easy to climb over, or under?” he asked, calling the MTA “nothing but idiots. They should be fired.”
Hernandez claims the top 82,262 earners — less than 1% of NYC’s population — pay 40% of city taxes.
“If Mamdani becomes mayor, they will leave,” he said. “Communism doesn’t work. Capitalism made New York the greatest city in the world.”
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Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who’s dating actress Elizabeth Hurley, is making time to mentor upcoming singer-songwriter Alexis Silva.
Instagram / alexis.e.silva
Alexis Silva. (Instagram / alexis.e.silva)
The 17-year-old, who survived a life-or-death cancer diagnosis, was contacted by Cyrus after he saw the video for her first tune, “The Fight’s Not Over Yet.” She later flew to Nashville to meet Cyrus in person.
Silva, now two years tumor free, is giving back to the community as the first-ever teen ambassador for the Children’s Oncology Support Fund.
She’ll also perform songs about her harrowing experience, then distribute health kits, groceries and hot meals to the homeless alongside Pastor Michael Hall in San Bernardino, Calif. on Sept. 27.
