(FORTUNE Small Business) – If only Broadway Producer Max Bialystock had thought like a venture capitalist, perhaps he wouldn't have had to sleep with old ladies for cash. That is the idea that drove reproductive-endocrinologist-turned-theatrical-producer Dr. Robert Silman, 65, to start the New York City- and London-based investment company Tambar Transatlantic Theatre. In March, he began inviting investors to put at least $50,000 each into a fund that will launch seven to ten productions in the U.S. and Europe. By diluting risk the way a venture capital portfolio would, the fund will increase the mathematical probability of a payoff, he says. "What I've brought to this area is a model that works in other areas," says the biotech industry veteran. Given how VCs tend to flock to the familiar, it may be the surest way to bring us a sequel to Cats. --ELAINE POFELDT