Theatre Owner with History of Burned Properties & Debt Struggles in Economy
Ralph Miller, owner of the Bucks County Playhouse, is facing some financial difficulties. He has made one sole mortgage payment in over a year, and has declared bankruptcy to avoid selling The Playhouse in August. Similar stories are appearing across the country as owners struggle to maintain their businesses in this economy, but Miller's case seems a bit more complicated than that: this is his third bankruptcy since 1992.
As Freda R. Savana reports to the Intelligencer, "last week Skippack-based Stonebridge Bank called on the court to block the Chapter 11 bankruptcy, saying Miller "knowingly and fraudulently" misrepresented his financial picture in order to secure a $2 million loan from them in 2008, according to court records."
Not adding to Miller's credibility is his history of running theater properties that go up in flames - quite literally. He owned the Pocono Playhouse, which was destroyed by a fire in early October of 2009, as well as the Falmouth Playhouse in Massachusetts, which burned in 1994, and the Woodstock Playhouse in New York, which again, was burned to the ground in 1988. Both the Falmouth Playhouse and the Woodstock Playhouse fires were deemed arson, yet no charges against Miller were ever filed. The cause of last month's fire at the Pocono Playhouse is still under investigation.
To read the full story of Miller's past debts, paychecks, loans, and theatre fires, click here.
For the more on Ralph Miller, and for the most comprehensive coverage on his playhouses, debts and other troubles, check out www.recordonline.com/miller.
The Bucks County Playhouse, The State Theater of Pennsylvania, located in New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania is a national landmark for Broadway Plays and is rich in theatrical history. "Springtime for Henry" with Edward Everett Horton opened The Playhouse season in 1939 and the celebrities that followed are a who's who of the theater. Princess Grace Kelly, Bea Arthur, Jack Cassidy, Colleen Dewhurst, Bob Fosse, Merv Griffin, Gene Rayburn, William Shatner, Paul Lynde, George C. Scott, Liza Minnelli, Audra McDonald, Loretta Swit, Don Knotts, Andrea McArdle and John Travolta are just a few of the luminaries that have graced The Playhouse stage.
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