ADDISON, TX – WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin today announced the cast for the The Explorers Club, a co-production with Stage West, running January 16—February 8, 2015 at the Addison Theatre Centre.  The ensemble cast features John-Michael Marrs as Lucius Fretway, Thomas Ward as Harry Percy, Dana Schultes as Phyllida Spotte-Hume, Michael Ulmer as Luigi, Aaron Roberts as Professor Cope, Mark Shum as Professor Walling, Michael Corrolla as Professor Sloane, Jeff McGee as Sir Bernard Humphries and Kyle Igneczi as Beebe.  Making their WaterTower Theatre debuts will be Michael Corrolla, John Michael-Mars, Aaron Roberts and Michael Ulmer.

The Explorers Club is made possible, in part, by Liberty Capital Bank, Million Air Dallas, Barbara and Bob Bigham:  the Baylor Oral Health Foundation.

The creative team for The Explorers Club is led by Director Jim Covault.  The team includes Clare DeVries as Set Designer, Michael Robinson as Costume Designer, Bryant Yeager as Lighting Designer, Lynn Lovett as Properties Designer, and Kellen Voss as Sound Designer.  The Stage Manager is Peggy Kruger-O'Brien, Assistant Stage Manager is Jessica Pettit and Vicki Caroline Cheatwood is the Dramaturg.

It’s London, 1879, and The Explorers Club is in crisis: a woman is campaigning for admittance; a savage has slapped Her Majesty, inciting a war; the Irish are probably Jewish and a beloved pet snake has swallowed a guinea pig. When an angry English Guard surrounds the club, what’s a gentleman explorer to do? Sit back and enjoy a brandy and cigar, naturally. This is the preposterous premise of Nell Benjamin’s madcap comedy that will have you bending over with laughter!

Tickets for The Explorers Club go on sale December 9th at 12 noon online at www.watertowertheatre.org, in person by visiting the box office at the Addison Theatre and Conference Centre at 15650 Addison Road, Addison, Texas 75001 or by phone at 972-450-6232. Tickets start at $22; preview prices start at $20.

Performance Schedule:

In the Main Space
WaterTower Theatre in collaboration with Stage West present

THE EXLORERS CLUB

By Nell Benjamin
Regional Premiere

January 16 – February 8, 2015
Previews: Friday, Jan. 16 and Saturday, Jan. 17
Pay What You Can:  Sunday, Jan. 18
Opening Night: Monday, Jan. 19

Performances:  January 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, Feb. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Performance Schedule:

Wednesdays & Thursdays: 7:30 p.m.
Fridays: 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays: 8:00 p.m. (Jan. 31 and Feb. 7 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.)
Sundays: 2:00 p.m.

Opening Night: Monday, January 19, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket Prices:

Single Tickets: $22 - $40 per show
Preview Tickets: $20

How/Where to Buy Tickets:

Online:  www.watertowertheatre.org

By Phone:  972-450-6232

Or In-person: WaterTower Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre
15650 Addison Road, Addison, TX 75001

Box Office Hours

Fax: 972.450.6244
Email: boxoffice@watertowertheatre.org

Performance Weeks:
Tuesday-Saturday Noon-6 p.m.
Closed Sunday-Monday

Non-Performance Weeks:
Tuesday-Friday Noon-6 p.m.
Closed Saturday-Monday

Please note: The Box Office opens one hour before show time on performance days and remains open through intermission.

About the Director
Jim Covault is the Co-Producing Director at Stage West in Fort Worth.  He joined Stage West in its first season.  He has directed such Stage West productions as The Rivals, Starbright & Vine, The Taming of the Shrew, What the Butler Saw, The Real Thing, and Arms and the Man.  His many memorable stage appearances including performances in New Jerusalem, November, the Jeeves plays, The Seafarer, The Code of the Woosters, Port Authority, St. Nicholas, The Weir, and Travels with My Aunt. 

About the Playwright
Nell Benjamin received the 2007 Tony and Drama Desk nominations for her work on Legally Blonde. She is the author of Pirates!, an adaptation of The Pirates of Penzance, developed at Goodspeed Opera House and Paper Mill Playhouse. She wrote Cam Jansen with Laurence O’Keefe (produced by Theatreworks/USA), wrote lyrics for Sarah, Plain and Tall and The Mice, won a Kleban Award and a Jonathan Larson Foundation grant and is a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild of America.

About WaterTower Theatre
Now in its 18th season, WaterTower Theatre began life in 1996 with 136 brave subscribers. Today, with over 2000 subscribers and a budget of $1.5 million, it consistently earns rave reviews in The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer, and other local publications. With 104 Dallas Theatre League Leon Rabin Award Nominations and 28 wins to its credit, as well as 17 Dallas Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum Awards, WaterTower Theatre is home to the finest local talent.

WaterTower Theatre has produced five world premiere productions and 16 regional premiere productions to date. WaterTower Theatre's tradition of world premiere programming includes the musicals Song of Motherhood and Blind Lemon: Prince of Country Blues. Dramatic world premieres include Free Fall with Sandy Duncan, Baptized to the Bone by Dave Johnson (which is enjoying healthy post-WaterTower Theatre life) and A Country Life, Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin’s southern adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Both Blind Lemon and A Country Life earned WaterTower Theatre a Dallas Theatre League Leon Rabin Award for Best New Work.

WaterTower Theatre is committed to nurturing emerging talent and expanding audiences. The annual Out of the Loop Fringe Festival strives to present new work by local and national writers. A major part of WaterTower Theatre’s education program partners professional artists and technicians with students at our Summer Performing Arts Conservatory, where students ages 8 - 18 learn “life skills through theatre skills.” In addition, master classes and workshops for professional performers offer an opportunity for continued education at the local level.

About our sponsors:

WTT is privileged to make its home at the Addison Theatre Centre, an award-winning flexible theatre space that can be reconfigured to accommodate each new production.

WaterTower Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of:

The Town of Addison, TACA, Texas Commission on the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

WaterTower Theatre gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the following season sponsors:  

The Town of Addison, TACA, American Bank of Commerce, Atmos Energy, Barbara and Bob Bigham, Don and Barbara Daseke, Frost Bank, Liberty Capital Bank, The Shubert Foundation, The Pinnacle Family of Companies, Mary Kay, Inc., Million Air Dallas, Rainmaker Advertising, The Nissan Foundation, PlainsCapital Bank, Women of WaterTower Theatre and the WaterTower Theatre Board of Directors