Bankruptcy On July 24, 1996, Mann announced that he would resign, although he and Abady would remain as artistic directors until Hughie closed. The same day, the theater's acting president Theodore R. Sayers announced that the theatrical company had filed for bankruptcy. At the time, the theater had $1.5 million in debt, in addition to $2 million in unpaid taxes. The company hired Gregory Mosher as its new producer in September 1996, and Circle officials simultaneously asked Abady to resign. Mosher and executive producer M. Edgar Rosenblum attempted to attract a wider audience by selling discounted tickets to anyone who purchased $37.50 annual memberships; they gave away about 12,000 memberships this way. Mosher also scrapped the proposed 1996–1997 season and announced plans to stage the play Stanley, which had been successful on London's West End. Stanley opened in February 1997 and was moderately successful, running for two months. Mosher, who admired the Circle's thrust stage, had wanted to stage a revival of the Odyssey for the 1997–1998 season. Sayers resigned from his position in May 1997. By then, observers expressed concerns that the theater had not announced any plays for the upcoming season. The theater's board voted to suspend operations on June 17, 1997, when Mosher and Rosenblum both resigned. A major factor in this decision was the theater's inability to pay back taxes, Investment banker Wilbur Ross Jr., a consultant for the theater, said at the time that the theater was unlikely to reopen unless it paid off its $1.5 million debt, as well as a $1.8 million lien that the Internal Revenue Service had placed on the theater. The next month, the theater's creditors attempted to secure a new operator; this was complicated by the fact that Mann and Libin had also claimed control of the theater's lease. Abady sued two of the theater's board members in early 1998, claiming that her termination was a breach of contract. A federal bankruptcy judge ruled in May 1998 that Libin and Mann could retain control of the Circle. Subsequently, the men began looking for tenants; by August 1998, there were rumors that the Manhattan Theatre Club, which was looking for a Broadway house, would move into the space. Ultimately, the Circle was reorganized as an independent commercial receiving house, one of a small number of independent Broadway theaters at the time. The theater was scheduled to reopen for the 1998–1999