Settlement in SHN Carole Shorenstein Hays lawsuit

Well, it's settled. Carole Shorenstein Hays gets control of her Curran programming and has separated from SHN, which will continue to program the Orpheum and Golden Gate theatres.

Carole will be free to bring in whatever she wishes in the future. In the immediate future, Harry Potter will move into the Curran for the sit-down production, as a partnership between ATG and Curran/CSH. (So it looks like the hands-off decree from the last injunction will no longer be in effect, and ATG will have to deal with Carole.)

According to a email sent by SHN this morning, "We will soon introduce a new name for the company that replaces SHN"  (My guess is "Broadway Direct" which I think is Nederlander's brand for their touring houses)

https://sfist.com/2019/08/19/hoorah-curran-theater-will-continue-to-be-run-by-carole-shorenstein-hays-following-settlement-with-shn

Updated On: 8/19/19 at 04:33 PM

I actually used to work for SHN in the main office and would, on occasion, have to sit in for her assistant when she was out of the office.  She is... shall we say... fascinating from afar, more than just a little unnerving in person.  (I'm understating here.)  That said, I've actually not been keeping up with what's been happening at SHN and will now have to dig back and catch back up.  

“Q. You told me you met with your counsel to prepare for the deposition.
A. Sure.
Q. How many times?
A. Well, see, I think of time as a continuum. So I think I met with them from the beginning to the end. And the beginning was the start, and then there was the rehearsal, and then there was the preview, and now it’s what I think of as the performance. So, in my mind, I’m answering what you’re asking. If you could be more specific. Do you want hours?
Q. Yes.
A. Oh, I don’t wear a watch. So I know the sun coming up in the morning and the moon coming up at night.”

Oh, my god. This needs to become a play. Someone call Faye Dunaway.

Updated On: 8/19/19 at 09:34 PM

I read her entire testimony. Is she really this eccentric or was she deploying some kind of courtroom strategy to stall the proceedings? Give 'em the old flim-flam flummox?

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "“Q. You told me you met with your counsel to prepare for the deposition.
A. Sure.
Q. How many times?
A. Well, see, I think of time as a continuum. So I think I met with them from the beginning to the end. And the beginning was the start, and then there was the rehearsal, and then there was the preview, and now it’s what I think of as the performance. So, in my mind, I’m answering what you’re asking. If you could be more specific. Do you want hours?
Q. Yes.
A. Oh, I don’t wear a watch. So I know the sun coming up in the morning and the moon coming up at night.”

Oh, my god. This needs to become a play. Someone call FayeDunaway."

Yeah it does. And please not Faye!

 

This seems like the best outcome for SF Bay Area residents like me, although the impact won't show right away because of Harry Potter taking over the Curran for the next few years.

Carole Shorenstein Hays seems like a different sort of person, but she's done a nice job on the Curran, which is easily the best of the three theaters that house touring Broadway shows (and as Kitsune mentions, the one most appropriate for intimate shows). 

The prospect of actual competition, without Hays needing to violate her agreement with SHN to bring in a show like Dear Evan Hansen to afford the riskier fare and out-of-town previews she seems to prefer, is a very good thing. Let 'em battle it out. 

The questions: Can Hays run a theater that doesn't bleed money without Dear Evan Hansen or Harry Potter? What will the relationship be with Ambassador Theatre Group going forward? The inability of the Curran to promote itself effectively leaves plenty of reason for doubt - although that's been good for my ability to see interesting shows in good seats at bargain prices.

For SHN, how will the total freedom to run its own operation change things? Will the theaters become even more commercial or take a few risks?

It's certainly possible that a renamed SHN would be more likely to bring in popular shows that usually run in nearby cities (Wicked, which is playing in San Jose this week, for example). But I'm just guessing. They are more likely to program as they have been doing, when first-tier Broadway tours are on their West Coast swing along with longtime favorites to fill out the season. The only benefit for SHN of Harry Potter occupying the Curran for a long while is that it will basically have a monopoly on Broadway tours anyway. (I would, for example, think the Hadestown tour would be a better fit for the Curran, but the Curran will presumably still be occupied.) The Hays-less SHN can even get a tryout or two that otherwise would play at the Curran or Berkeley Rep if they're a little daring. 

The Curran is Hays' baby, so I assume (in total ignorance; I don't know the arrangement and could be wrong) that Ambassador Theatre Group will be there to run Harry Potter and nothing more. The Curran has had trouble filling out a season and drawing a crowd, with the obvious exception of Dear Evan Hansen and partial one of Fun Home. The big question: What happens when Harry Potter leaves? Will the Curran be a strong competitor for the most popular touring shows, as it was for DEH (which, as a smaller show, made more sense in the Curran anyway)? A Curran season that has some popular Broadway touring productions along with out-of-town tryouts and experimental fare would make more financial sense while appealing to me. But Hays has yet to prove she can program and market effectively despite having the nicer theater in the better neighborhood. Basically, she has provided a service to a cheapskate like me to see shows from Bright Star to Head Over Heels to The Jungle for rush ticket prices and excellent seats (unlike SHN, which has taken to putting rush ticket buyers in the mezzanine). 

I can imagine the new SHN dominating the scene and getting most of the popular hits, leaving Hays, post-Potter, in a weaker position than before (when she was collecting SHN profits). But I can also imagine a better-managed Curran putting together a strong season that mixes the popular and the daring more effectively than before, and stealing even more touring shows that fit better in a Broadway-sized house.

But it's going to be a few years before we find out, I guess.