Roy Furman

Nearly three months after losing a power struggle with his largest shareholder, Cineplex Odeon Chairman Garth H. Drabinsky appears ready to make a bid for the movie theater concern, but he is making little headway with the directors' group charged with auctioning the firm. "It's the committee's decision to treat Garth the same as any of the other interested parties.

After a 16-month absence, Michael Ovitz on Monday stepped back into the entertainment business, gaining control of one of North America's top live theater producers and luring a respected investment banker to run it. Ovitz is investing $20 million in Livent Inc., the Toronto-based company behind such productions as "Ragtime," "Show Boat" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman."

After a 16-month absence, Michael Ovitz on Monday stepped back into the entertainment business, gaining control of one of North America's top live theater producers and luring a respected investment banker to run it. Ovitz is investing $20 million in Livent Inc., the Toronto-based company behind such productions as "Ragtime," "Show Boat" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman."

Nearly three months after losing a power struggle with his largest shareholder, Cineplex Odeon Chairman Garth H. Drabinsky appears ready to make a bid for the movie theater concern, but he is making little headway with the directors' group charged with auctioning the firm. "It's the committee's decision to treat Garth the same as any of the other interested parties.

There's no need to stop the presses for this bit of Broadway foregone conclusion. "Lucky Guy," the Tony-nominated play written by the late Nora Ephron and starring Tom Hanks, has officially turned a profit, recouping its Broadway investment of $3.6 million, producers announced Thursday. The play opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York on April 1 and has extended its run to July 3. "Lucky Guy" tells the story of journalist Mike McAlary (Hanks), who rose to prominence as a columnist at the New York Daily News.

Livent Inc. said that it has received $5 million from a group of its directors, adding that the transaction was approved during a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing Thursday in New York. The Toronto-based live-theater producer, known for such productions as "Ragtime," "Show Boat" and "Fosse," filed for protection this week under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code amid a sweeping internal investigation into financial irregularities by its former managers.

Sony May Sell Part of Movie Business: Sony Corp. has retained Furman Selz Inc. to sell a portion of its U.S. studio operations, according to investment bankers close to the transaction. Principal Roy Furman is personally helping the Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate seek a buyer, a person at the investment firm said.

Livent Inc., the financially troubled producer of such hit theatrical shows as "Ragtime" and "Fosse," said Roy Furman will give up his chief executive title and David Maisel will step down as president, effective June 25. Executive Vice President Rob Webster will be named chief executive, and Furman will continue as chairman.

Jefferies & Co., a Los Angeles-based securities firm, said it hired Roy Furman from ING Barings to be a vice chairman. Furman became a vice chairman at ING Barings in 1997 when the unit of ING Groep acquired Furman Selz, the firm he founded. In June 1999, Furman resigned from his position as chief executive of Livent Inc., a Toronto-based theater company. Livent was acquired by SFX Entertainment Inc.

STAGE Musical 'Jane Eyre': La Jolla Playhouse will present the U.S. premiere of a new musical version of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre," written and co-directed by John Caird ("Nicholas Nickleby," "Les Miserables"). Pop composer and lyricist Paul Gordon wrote the score. An earlier version of the show premiered in Toronto in 1996, but the La Jolla production--slated for next summer--will use a smaller cast, some new songs and less musical underscoring.

Whether he was playing a demented Captain Ahab or a saintly Atticus Finch, careening through a Dali nightmare or being stalked by a psychopath, Gregory Peck has always made moviegoers feel good--vaguely inferior, perhaps, but always good.

Live-theater producer Livent Inc., whose troubles have continued to mount amid an inquiry into financial irregularities by its previous management, was considering filing for Bankruptcy Court protection in the United States and Canada late Tuesday, sources close to the company said. The development marks the latest in a long list of headaches encountered by the investment group that controls Livent.