Lights back on at struggling Prince Theater

The show will go on at the Prince Music Theater.

The premiere of a local filmmaker's "Birth of Separation" was almost canceled last night after Peco Energy cut off power to the Center City theater for nine hours for nonpayment.

The film was set to run as part of the Philadelphia Film and Music Festival and was the first of several events scheduled this weekend at the financially troubled theater, on Chestnut Street near Broad.

But the power was turned back on about 6 p.m. and the screening went on as planned.

The theater has been experiencing financial troubles in part because of problems related to the refinancing of the building's mortgage, according to Prince's founder and operator, Marjorie Sarnoff.

"We are determined to pay back everyone we owe," Sarnoff said. "We're not deadbeats. We want the bank to work with us to settle this."

The nonprofit groups that operate the theater filed a civil suit in January against its mortgage lender, TD Bank. The suit accused the bank of "malfeasance" and poor management after the bank took over the theater following revelations that a theater accountant was forging checks. The group owes about $4.83 million in long-term loans to the bank.

TD Bank could not be reached for a comment last night.