Passing The Hat For "Godspell"

I can’t help but recite Mel Brooks on this:

Max: The two cardinal rules of producing. One: Never put your own money in the show.

Leo: And two?

Max: [yelling] Never put your own money in the show!

But since the scale of Broadway is so large these days, maybe it's time to rethink the rules? :

Davenport wants you — yes, you — to help produce his next Broadway show.

Hoping to raise $5 million for a revival of Stephen Schwartz's "Godspell," he's offering public stakes as low as $1,000 — a tiny amount compared to most single Broadway investments that often begin at $10,000 and can top $100,000. He thinks, based on the regulatory hoops through which he's jumped, that this is the first time such a scheme has been attempted.

"There are thousands and thousands and thousands of people that love Broadway all over the country. But they just don't get a chance to raise their hand and say, 'How can I help?'" Davenport says.

What do prospective investors get for their $1,000? Their name on a poster and on the show's website, as well as a promotional button that reads, "I'm a Broadway Producer!" They also get the risk of losing it all.

"I thought about for a second and a half doing it for $100 but that would be 50,000 people. And there's a certain kind of experience that I want these investors to have: I'm calling every single person who is interested in this show. I want them to know who the guy is who's behind the show, I want them to know how risky a proposition it is, I want them to hear it from me," says Davenport, 38.

...Of course, a natural question is: Will he invest his own cash into "Godspell"?

"I'm sure I'll have some money in the show. I believe in it," he says. "You better be ready to write that check and want to do it. That's what producing is all about. If you don't believe in it, how is anyone else going to believe in it?"