San Francisco Theater Owners Settle Litigation

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/theater/san-francisco-theater-owners-settle-litigation.html

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San Francisco's theater wars appear to have ended.

A bitter legal battle between two prominent families that for years had jointly operated the city’s big three commercial theaters has been settled, they said in a joint statement Monday.

Robert Nederlander will solely own and operate the Orpheum and Golden Gate theaters, which he had owned jointly with Carole Shorenstein Hays. Ms. Hays will retain sole ownership and control of the Curran Theater.

And each theater owner will be free to program anything they want in their buildings.

The agreement ends litigation that has been unfolding for several years in Delaware’s Court of Chancery.

The Nederlander and Shorenstein families had jointly run the three theaters for decades, but separated in 2014. The litigation most recently has centered on whether the Curran should be allowed to compete with the other two theaters; Ms. Hays won one round, and then Mr. Nederlander prevailed, leading to the settlement.

“We are thrilled to put these legal matters behind us, and continue doing what we do best: provide Bay Area residents and visitors with world class entertainment,” Ms. Shorenstein Hays and Mr. Nederlander said in a joint statement Monday.

The Curran will house “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” starting in October and running, the producers hope, for several years; the Orpheum and Golden Gate have announced a season with productions of several touring Broadway shows, including “Mean Girls” and “The Band’s Visit.”