Our 549th Production
Directed by Sarah Labov
November 7th, 8th, 9th,14th, 15th, 16th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 2025
Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Meet the Cast
Dan Crozier as Peter Austin
Dan most recently played Bill in Grand Horizons at the Stagecrafters Theater. He directed Dinner Theatre in the Summer One Act Bonanza and played Dr. Gibbs in Our Town at The Old Academy Players. He’s played Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Uncle Peck in How I Learned to Drive, Vershinin in The Three Sisters and Fagin in Oliver!
Eric Rupp as Sir Frank Finger
Eric is excited to return to Old Academy, after having just appeared in Crimes of the Heart (Doc). Other recent productions he has been a part of include The Philadelphia Story (Mike) at Playcrafters of Skippack, Roz and Ray (Ray) at Players Club of Swarthmore, and Noises Off (Selsdon) at Eastern University School of Theatre. Eric received his BFA in Acting from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Eric is thankful to Sarah for including him in this amazing cast.
Joseph Peachey as Gus P. Head
Joseph is thrilled for first performance at Old Academy Players! He’s a Philadelphia-based actor, singer, improviser, and a recent college graduate from Susquehanna University with a degree in Theatre Performance. When he’s not on stage, Joseph is a Camp Counselor and Youth DnD Gamemaster at Queen and Rook Game Cafe. Some recent credits include performing in the Ensemble in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella at Ritz Theatre Company, being an improv performer at Mythik Camps, playing Chuck Biggs in She Kills Monsters at Colonial Playhouse.
Michele King as Virginia Noyes
Michele is excited to be back onstage at Old Academy, the theater where she first acted after a long hiatus from a career that began at age 15. She has performed here in “The Fourth Wall” (Peggy), Wedding Belles (Glendine) and The Pearl (Marina), as well as in the one acts. Among her favorite roles elsewhere are Kate (All My Sons), Amanda (The Glass Menagerie), Bev/Kathy (Clybourne Park), Bessie (Awake and Sing), Sister Aloysius (Doubt) and Queen Aggravain (Once Upon a Mattress). Following “It’s Only a Play””, she will be appearing as Evangeline Harcourt in “Anything Goes” at Genesius Theater in Reading. Thanks for the opportunity Sarah. Much love to Randall.
Ross Druker as James Wicker
Ross is happy to be returning to Old Academy Players for his fifth show, having appeared as Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Father Flynn in Doubt, Shakespeare in Shakespearepalooza, and the Stage Manager in Our Town. Recently he appeared as Herbie in Gypsy at Narberth Community Theater, Ned Newley in The Outsider and multiple roles in The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at Spotlight Theatre. Other recent roles were Mr. Lindquist in A Little Night Music at Narberth Community Theater, Mr. Mayhew in Witness for the Prosecution and Don John in Much Ado About Nothing at Chestnut Hill Stagecrafters, Father Charles in Incorruptible at Playcrafters of Skippack and Robert Martin in The Drowsy Chaperone at Rose Valley Chorus and Orchestra. He has performed numerous Gilbert and Sullivan lead roles with the Savoy Company in Philadelphia and England. He has also sung with The Philadelphia Chorale behind Andrea Bocelli at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and Madison Square Garden in NYC.
Sam Gugino as Ira Crew
After three decades as an award-winning food and wine journalist and cookbook author–the fifth, Eat! You’ll Get Hungry, A Family Food Saga, is out now in eBook and print on demand—Sam studied for two years at the Lantern Theater School in Philadelphia. Since then, he has appeared in a variety of productions throughout the Philadelphia area including: The Diary of Anne Frank (Otto Frank); Barefoot in the Park (Victor Velasco); Inherit the Wind (Mathew Harrison Brady); Freud’s Last Session (Sigmund Freud); The Taming of the Shrew.
Susan Cantone as Julia Budder
Susan is thrilled to once again perform at Old Academy Players. She had the pleasure of appearing in last year’s Summer Bonanza as Miss Winnie. She also played Masha in Old Academy’s production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, performing alongside Sarah Labov (who portrayed Sonia). That show was filled with laughter, and she’s delighted the fun continues in this one. Susan is especially grateful to be working under Sarah’s direction for the first time—Sarah brings both a sharp comedic eye and a wonderful sense of collaboration to It’s Only a Play, making the process as joyful as the performance itself.
Sarah Labov (Director)
Sarah has been participating at Old Academy Players for over ten years. A favorite opportunity at OAP was directing “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” by Tom Stoppard”. Two favorite roles on stage were Sonya in “Vanya, Sonya, Masha and Spike” by Christopher Durang, directed by Jane Jennings, and Marty in “Circle Mirror Transformation” by Annie Baker, directed by Loretta Lucy Miller. Classically trained in NYC, Sarah brings a wide range of experience and training from 40+ years in theater, music and dance. Thanks to an extraordinary cast and production team. Thanks to Jamie, family and friends who are forever in my heart and always cheering me on!
Kimberly Hess (Producer)
Kim is delighted to be working with Sarah Labov along with all the cast members on It’s Only a Play. She recently directed one of the One-Acts here at Old Academy. Before that she appeared in Love, Loss and What I Wore at this same theatre. In addition she played Sissy in Sordid Lives at Kelsey Theatre for the MTM Players, Diane in Old Ringers at Old Academy Players, Paulina in Winter’s Tale for The Drama Group, Ida Bolton in Mornings at Seven at Old Academy Players, Sharon Bates in Book of Days at Players Club of Swarthmore, Fiona Babcock in Out of Sight, Out of Murder at Dutch Country Players, Julia Perry in A Little Murder Never Hurt Anybody at Playcrafters, Lenya Zubritsky in Fools at Forge Theatre and Mrs. Brady in Inherit the Wind at Kelsey Theatre for Forte Productions. Other performances include major roles in 12 Angry Jurors, Don’t Dress for Dinner, No Sex Please We’re British, and Something Intangible. Kimberly sings with Bucks County Choral Society and Cantus Novus choral group.
Michael Eddy Harvey (Understudy)
Michael is an actor originally from Pittsburgh, PA and is excited to be apart of Its Only A Play for in his first Philadelphia production! He got his undergraduate degree from Oberlin in Environmental Studies and Biology and currently works for the Philadelphia Water Department. While at Oberlin he participated in a number of shows including She Loves Me as Sipos, Shayna Punim as Oliver, and Spring Awakening as Otto. He would like to thank the incredible cast and crew at the Old Academy Players for making his first theater production in Philadelphia so incredible!
Hannah Leifheit (Production Assistant)
After taking 20 years off from theater, Hannah is thrilled to be back. At Old Academy, she has been in the Summer One Acts the last two seasons, in the booth for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and in A Rainbow Holiday. She is currently in Little Women at Colonial Playhouse. Thank you to everyone who helps make community theater possible! Outside of theater, she enjoys eating food, pulling weeds, and training her dog, Bonzo.