AHOY HOY
A Play About That Relatable Feeling When Someone Else Invents the Telephone Three Hours Before You Do.
It’s 1876 and also, right now. Elisha Gray is this close to inventing the telephone. He’s brilliant, anxious, and ready to make history… if Alexander Graham Bell doesn’t beat him to it. Spoiler: he kind of does. Two oversized egos. One telephone. A battle of beards and bell tones. Ahoy-Hoy is a deliriously unhinged, unapologetic sprint through American ambition, innovation, and the absurd quest for legacy. History has never been this ridiculous or this fun.
BY JENNY STAFFORD
WHEN AND WHERE
Saturday, December 20 @ 7 PM
Proscenium Theatre at the Drake
This reading is presented as a part of our new work reading series, Fresh Squeezed. Check out the rest of our 2025 line up here!
AHOY HOY CAST AND CREATIVE
Fintan McNamara (Alexander Graham Bell) (he/him) Fintan is excited to be working with The Lemonade Stand again for this reading! Having been an Associate Director for Welp., Fintan is an emerging professional director and actor from Drexel University. If you scanned this QR code with your phone, thank Mr. Bell!
Rafi Mills (Wilbur From The Patent Office) (he/him) Rafi Mills is excited to finally work with the Lemonade Stand! He recently attended Temple University, where he studied Musical Theater. Rafi is deeply grateful for the support of his family and friends. Let's work together! Instagram: @rafi.mills
Liam Rogan (Elisha Gray) (he/him) Liam Rogan is currently a senior at Temple University pursuing a BFA in Musical Theater. Most recently he was Jim Farrell in their production of Titanic. He is so excited to be working on a new play and sharing the stage with such a great cast.
Jack Taylor (Cornelius) (He/Him) Jack Taylor is excited to be joining the folks at The Lemonade Stand! Jack is an actor and director currently based in Baltimore and his credits range from D.C. to Philly including: Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, Curio Theatre Company; Head Over Heels, Constellation Theatre Company; Diva! Live From Hell, Philly Fringe Festival 2024; Charlotte’s Web, The BFG, Arden Theatre Company. Jack is an artistic associate with Iron Crow Theatre, Baltimore’s premiere professional queer theatre, where his credits include An Act of God (God) and The Rocky Horror Show (Brad). When not working in the theatre, you can find him serving eggs and coffee by day and serving looks by night. Arcadia University BFA in Acting. @jcktylor_ and www.jcktylor.com
Jia Weingard (Stage Directions) (she/her) Jia Weingard is excited to make her Lemonade Stand debut. Recent credits: She Kills Monsters, Urinetown, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Clue! On Stage (Drexel University), Midsummer (Hedgerow Theatre)
Dylan Cole (Director) (he/him) Dylan Cole is a fiery and inquisitive Director/Choreographer, originally from the beautiful swamps of south Louisiana and now based in Brooklyn. He is thrilled to return to Philadelphia, where he earned his MFA in Musical Theatre Collaboration from Temple University this past May, and even more elated to reunite with Jenny Stafford and join the team at The Lemonade Stand. This coming season, Dylan heads to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to Assistant Direct and Assistant Choreograph Come From Away, and returns to upstate New York for his second year as a Resident Artist at The Glimmerglass Festival, serving as Assistant Director and Assistant Choreographer on Francesca Zambello’s new production of Oklahoma!. His work has also been seen Off-Broadway, at The Kennedy Center, The MUNY, Maples Repertory Theatre, and more. Dylan sends all his love to his family, teachers, and gaggle-without whom he would cease to exist, and hopes you enjoy the hilarity that is Ahoy Hoy. @notoriousdcp
Jenny Stafford (Playwright) (she/her) Jenny Stafford is an award-winning playwright, bookwriter, and lyricist whose works have been heard on Broadway and beyond. Her work has been featured at Lincoln Center, Cirque du Soleil, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Dancing with the Stars, and other regional and international venues. Awards include the Reva Shiner Comedy Award, the Modern Works Award, the Paulette Goddard Award, and the Capital Repertory New Works Award. Three-time finalist status for the Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre, and a finalist for the McKnight Fellowship, the PEN Writing for Justice Fellowship, the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, and the Eugene O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference and Playwriting Conference. Nominee for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Artist in Residence at the Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat, Goodspeed Musicals, Johnny Mercer Writers Colony. Dramatists Guild member; MFA NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. www.jennystafford.net
Caitlin Shanahan (Stage Manager) (she/her) is a senior at Ursinus College majoring in Performing and Visual Arts Design and Technology, and Media and Communications. Over the summer she was the marketing intern for the Orange Tree Theatre in London. Previous work include: stage managing for Ursinus College, assistant stage managing for InterAct Theatre Company, Assistant sound designing for InterAct and Hedgerow Theatre Company, and Light board programming for Inis Nua Theatre Company and Delaware Theatre Company. Her upcoming work includes lighting design for Ursinus’s production of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.