Any know what ever happened to Tony Georges?

[BenIdIct]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 9:03pm

I was reminded of Tony Georges when reading another post. Anyone know what ever happened with him?

[FalsettosFan]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 9:11pm

I think he's still down in Texas running the theatre.

[MaxOChez]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 9:24pm

I heard talk of the Tony Georges Cinderella with Mara Wilson might be coming to Broadway? Is that true?

[SharonZ]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 9:43pm

i wouldn't think so. cinderella hasn't ever been on broadway, as far as i know. i don't think mr georges' theatre is yet popular enough to be invited to make such a move. then again, with all that happened this year, maybe so.

[BWAYboi_yes]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 10:14pm

I don't know where he is now. Maybe he's coaxed Barbra Streisand into an Odessa production by now. Wouldn't surprise me.
Updated On: 10/17/05 at 10:14 PM

[kjklo]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 10:23pm

On October 3, Georges surrendered to an arrest warrant for writing bad checks, and was released the same day on a personal recognizance bond. The Ector Theatre in Odessa is now essentially defunct and is in the process of attempting to settle its debts by selling off props, costumes, etc.

[BWAYboi_yes]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 10:27pm

Looks like he's out of trouble on that:

http://www.oaoa.com/news/nw101205c.htm

Hmmm....

[James_Street]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 11:10pm

i remember i was one of the first people to learn of maria friedman's gypsy. i think it's just horrible how the media has ripped him up. i hope he is successful one day soon.

[camthom]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 11:45pm

Horrible how the media has ripped him up?

He promised people roles, money and signed contracts with them, with no plan on how to actually follow through.

He played with people's livelihoods in a major way. A musician in Odessa, TX is not breaking the bank...he's trying his best to make ends meet and feed his family. To then have some kid make him an offer, hire him for work and then not be able to pay what he promised is not something to just brush aside.

He now will have criminal charges against him for bank/check fraud, and I'm sorry, but he deserves it. He screwed up, he did something illegal and his actions hurt people. The press was kind to him in my opinion.

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 11:46pm

Someone should really write a musical about him...it has a lot of potential

[James_Street]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 1:30am

i can see where you're coming from, but i can also how if people like tony georges didn't try to do things like he did, many of us theatre people wouldn't have work. he did continue to produce shows, and from what i can tell, his experience combined with a monster of a betty buckley through him downhill. bigger producers have bigger things fall through because they just decided they wouldn't make enough money, where this kid tried everything he could, money aside. i don't think he deserves to be treated so badly.

[SharonZ]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 1:35am

I tend to also side there, actually. Tony Georges didn't just come out of the midnight mist, offer these local musicians jobs, and not pay for them. He's been hiring those same musicians for years. This appears to have been a special case. Of course, if you read, he's paid them off, according to the Odessa newspaper.

I will also say that musician in Odessa, Texas may not be breaking the bank, but if they're trying to make it a musician, they'll never get there. I'd imagine that most of them have other jobs and play for "extra" money.

[camthom]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 2:17am

See, I don't think Betty Buckley did anything wrong. He made it sound as if it was her fault with his interviews, but bottom line-even with all her outrageous demands, HE AGREED to them. If he's going to try to play the game, he's got to realize what his limits are. And when he discovers them and is caught with his pants down, it's ludicrous to start blaming problems on things you agreed to do and then didn't follow through with.

It would almost be better if he'd come out of the mist and done all this. It's worse, in my opinion that he'd developed a rapor with these people and then turned his back on them when they trusted him. The fact that he'd had actual experience and ignored anything he'd learned seems a little out-of-hand.

And while several of them have been paid off, it does tell the brief story of the one guy who just didn't want to bother with it all...I'm sure there are other people in the same boat.

[HawkM]

Posted: 10/18/05 at 10:08am

cam, I don't know if I'll get anywhere with you particularly, because I remember how you just slashed through Scott Alan on that old thread, but I do think you're not being sensible about this.

Turned his back on those people? How can you say that he turned his back? The news all clearly shows that he ran out of money, unexpectedly. Writing bad checks is a crime, and no one writes tons of bad checks knowing that they're bad. Someone could technically spend years in prison for that.

I don't know if Betty was THE reason, but I imagine that she didn't help. Tony Georges, however, hasn't seemed to put the blame on her in any of the news I've read. Other people have pointed that finger.

I think that this situation he got himself into is not unlike problems that other producers face. I think he'll likely be better off, actually, getting through something like this early on.