The following press release is available for excerpt or in total. To arrange for interviews or photos, or for more information, please call the KOP Players Information Line at 610-277-9505. To download this article, visit the website at www.kofpplayers.org


"Play On!," the second show of the King of Prussia Players' 45th anniversary season, is also the setting for some role reversal among the cast and crew. Christopher DeWitt, who makes his directing debut with the Rick Abbott comedy, has cast in his production Larry Anderson, the man who also directed "Play On!"on the Upper Merion High School stage---with DeWitt as an actor. "Play On!" is the tale of a struggling community theater that is allowed to perform a new playwright's debut work for free. Unfortunately, the author can't seem to stop making changes; she's radically rewriting the play three days before the dress rehearsal. As the tension of forgotten lines and technical difficulties escalate, egos clash and catastrophes ensue. The action culminates in the unforgettable opening night of the mystery "Murder Most Foul." The play-within-the-play doesn't turn out quite the way the author had hoped, as drunk actors, falling walls and dropped props turn the proper British mystery into a rollicking American comedy.
When Larry Anderson directed a student cast in "Play On!" in 1994, DeWitt was a UMHS sophomore who played the role of Billy Carewe, a know-it-all actor and the play-within-the-play's leading man. This time around, director DeWitt has given Anderson the role of Henry Benish, a henpecked husband who is cast as the lord of the manor in "Murder Most Foul." Also among the cast are fellow former student actors Maria D'Alleva, who plays flamboyant playwright Phyllis Montague; and Rose Petrecz, who played Henry's wife, Polly, in the 1994 production but this time assays the role of no-nonsense stage manager Aggie Manville. While DeWitt had no qualms ordering his ex-classmates around, he was a little intimidated about directing his former mentor---at first. "I think I was finally comfortable directing Larry once I stopped calling him Dr. Anderson. It's difficult to direct the person that taught you everything you know about the theater." Rounding out the cast in the King of Prussia Players' production are Dana Courtine ("Murder Most Foul" director Gerry Dunbar), Julie Leavitt (technical director Louise Peary), Janice Jankowski (Polly Benish), Randy Weinstein (Billy Carewe), Mary Kate Kenney (Violet Imbry), Joe Carney (Saul Watson); and Brooke Childress (Smitty Smith). 
"Play On!" will be performed at the Upper Merion Area High School January 11, 12, 18 & 19 at 8p.m., and January 13 at 2p.m. For more information, call 610 277-9505 or visit the website at www.kofpplayers.org