Rumors swirl about the Prince Theater

Amid growing rumors about the Prince Music Theater's ability to continue operating - and a remark from its stage Monday night that indicated it would be closing - its producing director, Marjorie Samoff, says that the Center City theater plans a 2009-10 season that includes its annual renters plus at least three productions the Prince will mount.

Her statement that the theater would remain open and working were confirmed by a Prince insider who spoke only on condition of anonymity and who said the organization would mostly be renting its 446-seat main stage and 15-seat upstairs theater, and would continue to produce its successful cabarets and run education programs.

The Prince, located on Chestnut between Broad and 15th, lately has been a subject of much conjecture in the theater community, after it announced and then virtually abandoned a full producing season last year. Two shows were produced: The World Goes 'Round, a revue of Kander and Ebb songs, and a holiday production of It's a Wonderful Life, done as a radio play.

The Prince - which began as the American Music Theatre Festival in 1984 and moved into its current home in 1999 - has been working with TD Bank, holder of two mortgages, to settle differences over the terms and amounts of the mortgages. At one point in May, the building was listed for Philadelphia sheriff's sale but was removed from the list as negotiations with the bank continued.

On Monday night, at the final screening of QFest, the Philadelphia gay and lesbian film festival, the co-director of the movie The Gay Musical indicated to the audience that the film would be the last event at the theater.The filmmaker, Fred Caruso, "said 'It's such an amazing theater, it's a shame it's closing,' which sent shock waves into the crowd," according to Raymond Murray, who heads the festival and the Philadelphia Cinema Alliance. Within hours, the comment became Internet fodder, with several Prince customers e-mailing about the theater in at least one chat room.

"To my knowledge, that is certainly not the last show at the Prince," said the insider, who added that the rumor mill was putting out information that overlooked the Prince's current booking of tenants for next season, which begins in September.