Nell Benjamin's THE EXPLORERS CLUB to Open at Theatre 40 in May

 The Explorers Club, written by Nell Benjamin, directed by Melanie MacQueen, and produced by David Hunt Stafford, will be presented at Theatre 40.

The production will run May 23- June 23, 2024. Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Dark on Friday, June 7. On Saturday, June 22, there will be a 2 p.m. matinee and no evening show.

London, 1879. The prestigious Explorers Club is in crisis: their acting president wants to admit a woman, and their bartender is terrible. True, this female candidate is brilliant, beautiful, and has discovered a legendary Lost City, but the decision to let in a woman could shake the very foundation of the British Empire, and how do you make such a decision without a decent drink? Grab your safety goggles for some very mad science involving deadly cobras, irate Irishmen and the occasional airship.

The cast includes David Hunt Stafford, Matt Landig, Christopher Franciosa, John Combs, Meghan Lewis, Hovannes John Babakhanyan, Kevin Dulude, Daniel Leslie, and Michael Mullen.

Melanie MacQueen directs. Her directing credits at Theatre 40 include The Revolutionists, The Play's the Thing, Taming the Lion, Engaging Shaw, The Drawer Boy, Months on End, On Borrowed Time, Separate Beds and Roses in December. Her directing career spans several decades,and includes the award-wining musical that she also wrote and produced, In the Name of God, or Honk If You Love Satire, which moved from the Valley to Off-Broadway. Also an actor, Theatre 40 audiences might know her best from her many appearances in the perennial cast of The Manor.

Nell Benjamin is the playwright. The Explorers Club debuted off-Broadway in 2013 and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award. She is noted as a composer and lyricist, and frequently collaborates with her husband, Laurence O'Keefe. She was nominated for a Tony Award as lyricist and composer for Legally Blonde: the Musical, and also as lyricist for Mean Girls. She was also an executive producer on the 2024 Mean Girls movie.

Stage manager: Don Solosan. Set Design: Jeff G. Rack. Costume design: Michael Mullen. Hair/Wig/Make-up design: Judi Lewin. Assistant director: Chris Aruffo.

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