By Hap Erstein
Boca Raton’s Caldwell Theatre has been in a financial bind ever since it took out a $6 million mortgage on its new theater in 2008. But it sees an end to its difficulties, with an imminent filing for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy.
“The decision has been made and that is what we’re working towards,” said the company‘s harried artistic director, Clive Cholerton. “We have a few details to work out. Mostly it’s making sure that when you go in with the filing, all your ducks are lined up, because that’s how you get out of it more quickly.”
The issue that no one connected to the Caldwell wants to talk about, is whether the 37-year-old grande dame of the South Florida theater community would “pull a Florida Stage,” a new phrase in the lexicon which means abruptly shutting its doors and disappearing forever.
“We are not folding. We are not going anywhere,” said Cholerton. “We as a board have never discussed Chapter 7 bankruptcy,” the route Florida Stage took to end its operations.
The Caldwell has retained bankruptcy attorney Brad Shraiberg and is working with him to structure a plan to give the theater some financial relief and to get back into gear.
“The first hurdle we had to overcome was with our own legal counsel,” says Cholerton. “When he came in, he said ‘Prove to me that you are viable.’ We had to give him a detailed cash flow analysis, a business plan moving forward, so he could structure the reorganization. Because he was like, ‘Look, I’m the one who has to go out and sell this to the world. Don’t make me look bad.’ ”
Cholerton inherited many of the Caldwell’s problems when he assumed the artistic and managerial reins of the theater in 2009.
Because of the scheduled demolition and redevelopment of the Levitz Plaza where the Caldwell previously performed, it had to commit to building the new, virtually adjacent playhouse just as the economy was tanking, the South Florida real estate bubble was bursting and public funding was disappearing.
Cholerton began wiping the cobwebs off the company by producing more new, edgy plays instead of the Caldwell’s usual menu of American classics. But the dwindling audience suggests that he may have changed the ship’s course too quickly.
“Have I gone too far? Yeah, I’d be an idiot not to look at that,” he said. “I didn’t say to myself, ‘Let’s see what I can do to alienate some people’ or anything like that. But I have a vision of what I want to do with this theater, and we have brought a lot of new theatergoers in. So it’s a balancing act.”
Besides the mortgage, which has reportedly not been paid since August, the Caldwell owes required payments to Actors Equity, as well as money loaned to the company by several major benefactors. An exact total of the company’s debts is something Cholerton was advised not to discuss.
Legacy Bank, the mortgage holder, had no interest in owning a theater, but it was moving toward foreclosing on the Caldwell as a way to protect its investment. Now, the Chapter 11 filing would forestall such an action.
Cholerton emphasizes that with Chapter 11 protection, the Caldwell will be able to focus on what it does best — produce plays — and the audience should not notice any behind-the-scenes financial adjustments. He is close to announcing a schedule of plays for the 2012-2013 season, and its next production, the musical revue Working, was scheduled to open March 2.
“By declaring bankruptcy,” said Cholerton, “We get to finally move forward.”
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