It all began in 1893…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Adventure and Mystery come to Wilmington!
WILMINGTON, NC (APRIL 26, 2021) – The Lemurian Institute is happy to reveal the fate of the former “TheaterNOW”! Coming Soon, an all-new bar and dining experience: THE SORROW DROWNER.
Once you cross the threshold, you will be transported into the classic era of Exploration. The Lemurian Institute, a global leader in history and exploration, led by its founder, Edward Bartholomew Wheatley the Third, have assembled a team of the finest adventurers and scholars from around the globe. What happens behind the doors of the Institute has been a question for decades; however, as the old saying goes, “When the Machairodus Kabir is away, the Indefatigable Galapagos Mice will play!”
Enter ‘The Sorrow Drowners’!
This rag-tag group of individuals, nicknamed for their near nightly revelries, keep the Institute running while the Board of Directors are out exploring! Many of these acolytes pine to be in the field but have yet to pay their dues. Instead, they stay behind to research and catalogue the variety of artifacts sent home by the Institute’s elite expedition teams and partners worldwide. Due to all the doldrums of lab work, an informal vote was taken and the Sorrow Drowners have decided to open the doors of the Institute to all of YOU! (Truth be told, it’s mostly because they’d prefer the chance to speak to someone that isn’t 2000 years old.) Just don’t tell E.B.!
Once inside, you will be welcomed with open arms into “The Grand Marae”, the meeting hall in the Institute typically used for lectures, but sans supervision the dais has been co-opted into a space for members and a variety of entertainers to perform! Books and notes have been pushed into corners to make room for you in the Library and you have been granted access to the secretive Director E.B. Wheatley III’s office to view his personal collection. Most importantly, they saved you a seat at the bar as they serve up drinks a tad bit stronger than Lemonade!
So prepare yourself, The Sorrow Drowners welcome you!
Owned and operated by The Lemurian Institute, Inc., wholly owned by North Carolina Native Alfred Brian Wheatley and designed by former Disney Imagineer Brandon Kleyla, aka Trader Brandon, whose resume includes attractions worldwide and is perhaps best known for his work on both Trader Sam's Tiki Bars in Anaheim, Ca and Orlando, Fl. You will want to spend hours here just looking at all the artifacts from around the world and to allow yourself to get lost in the story.
“People love being able to escape, to get lost in an experience, and that’s what we’re doing here,” says Brandon. “We’re stepping out of the framework of a traditional Tiki bar and delivering a much larger experience, set in the golden age of adventure. The age of Earhart, Bingham, Carter, and Bird.”
“My whole life, I was always on the hunt for adventure! I haven’t climbed Mount Everest or Walked the Plains of the Serengeti, but when I couldn’t there were movies that could,” says Alfred Brian Wheatley, proprietor of the Sorrow Drowner. “It was in these films that I found myself enthralled and, when presented with the opportunity to create this experience, it was these films that guided my hand. It is my wish to bring a space permeated with that sense of adventure to Wilmington.”
The Sorrow Drowner will feature a large menu of classic craft cocktails from classic tiki faire to drinks from around the world as well as a menu of island favorites. Once a month, the stage will come alive with a Vaudeville Style Revue featuring a variety of acts as well as an interactive cast of wandering comedic characters. Our hope is to provide the city of Wilmington and Coastal North Carolina with an ever-changing experience that you’ll want to vist again and again!
For more information and to keep up to date with the latest news on our build progress, please visit sorrowdrowner.com or follow us on Instagram and Twitter @SorrowDrowner. Auditions to be announced soon!
THE LEMURIAN INSTITUTE IS…
Alfred Brian Wheatley - The Proverbial “Man Behind the Curtain!” Special Makeup Effects, Costuming, Writing, and more, Alfred was a jerk of all trades in the California film industry when he was approached to conceptualize a new dining experience with his brother. Maybe he’ll keep this job for longer than a year for once! A graduate of the Academy of Art in San Francisco and a culinary school dropout, he now lives with his wife and their dog Rasputin in Wilmington.
“Bunny” Wheatley - Your Hostess and our Social Media Manager! A skilled cosmetologist and stylist, Bunny often asks herself what the hell she is doing here. With both salon and film experience, she is frequently in high demand and yet now here she is taking reservations and selling t-shirts to tourists. Bunny has relocated from Los Angeles for reasons beyond her to do what she could have done anywhere. She now lives with her husband and her dog Rasputin in Wilmington.