IF he sets foot in America, they’ll clap the irons on him.
But that hasn’t stopped disgraced theatrical impresario Garth Drabinsky from plotting a return to Broadway.Drabinsky – who makes Max Bialystock look like Mother Teresa – recently hatched a scheme to revive Ronald Harwood‘s 1981 play, “The Dresser,” in New York, starring Philip Bosco and Alan Cumming.
His plan, theater sources say, was to open the show in Toronto and then line up a “front man” to produce it for him on Broadway.
Drabinsky is holed up in Toronto fighting extradition to the United States on charges that he defrauded investors in Livent, the theatrical empire he created, bankrupted and allegedly looted.
He’s under criminal indictment in the United States and can’t enter the country without being arrested. So he asked a former associate, Jon Wilner, to produce “The Dresser” for him in New York.
“He did ask, but I turned him down,” Wilner told The Post this week.
Harwood also confirmed that Drabinsky intended to bring the play, which tells the story of a decripit actor and his longtime dresser, to New York.
“He said he would find someone to produce it for him on Broadway,” Harwood said yesterday.
The plan didn’t get off the ground, however, because Drabinsky “couldn’t cast the play to my satisfaction, so I did not let him renew his option,” Harwood said.
“I think he’s a bit annoyed with me. He called me ‘a very challenging author,’ which I take as a compliment.”
Reached at his office in Toronto, Drabinsky declined to comment on his plans for “The Dresser.”
“It’s always lovely to hear from you, Michael, but I can’t comment on this stuff,” he said. “I will be talking about all of my theatrical projects very soon.”
Asked if he was planning a return to Broadway one day, Drabinsky replied, “We’ll see.”
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The district attorney of Bremen, Germany, has ruled Broadway actor Steve Barton’s death was a suicide.Barton, 47, who was the original Raoul in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway and later went on to play the title role, died July 21 at his home in Stonegate, a posh section of Bremen.
Early reports said the cause was heart failure, but an official in the Bremen D.A.’s office told The Post that was not true.
The official would not say how Barton committed suicide, but friends say the actor was fighting an addiction to pain killers and struggled with frequent bouts of alcoholism.
He was also said to be depressed over a recent separation from his wife, Denny Berry, a dancer-choreographer.
“He loved his wife and he was trying to prove to her that he could be a great performer again and get her back,” his manager and publicist, Michael Staringer, said yesterday.
Though Barton started out as a Broadway performer, he found fame and fortune in Germany, where he starred in several musicals, including “Dance of the Vampires” and Disney’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
He got hooked on pain killers after suffering a knee injury during the run of “Dance of the Vampires.”
“He had 14 knee surgeries, and when his knee started acting up again, it got him into a bad mental state,” Staringer said.
Even so, Staringer said he was surprised to learn Barton had killed himself.
“I am sure he had his alcoholism under control, and I know he thought his life was on an upswing,” the manager said. “I talked to him the day he died, and he was totally fine.”
Staringer said the actor was looking forward to returning to America to star in a production of “Medea” in Pittsburgh.
He was also recording an album called “Mr. Bojangles” in Germany and had been offered the role of Scar in the Broadway production of “The Lion King.”
Barton is survived by his wife and their 17-year-old son, Edward.