Mad Cow Theatre
Encyclopedia
Mad Cow Theatre
began in late 1997 as a simple two-show project between a group of actors/directors in a former blueprint studio in Maitland, Florida
. After an initial four year period of renting space from such mainstay Central Florida organizations as Rollins College
, The Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival
, The Civic Theatres of Central Florida, and the Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival
, Mad Cow is now celebrating its 14th Season in Downtown Orlando
. Founding Artistic Director Alan Bruun retired in late 2010. Mad Cow has built collaborative relationships with other downtown businesses and has received two Golden Brick Awards for outstanding contribution to downtown life. Mad Cow Theatre has also been named "Best Theatre" by Orlando Magazine for several years in a row.
under the Orlando Area Theatre contract, and holds open auditions annually. Each February, Mad Cow participates in United Arts of Central Florida's ArtsFest
, providing free tickets to selected performances.
In 2010, Mad Cow Theatre was the first regional theatre to produce Superior Donuts
after its Broadway
run.
talent to three weeks of lunchtime and evening shows, special events, and festivities in the heart of Downtown Orlando
. The Cabaret Festival also features world-class local performers celebrating the best of the Great American Songbook
. Taking place over three weeks, the Orlando Cabaret Festival encompass more than 40 performances.
for several concerts, presented at Bob Carr Performing Arts Center. These productions have included The Music Man
, Sweeney Todd
, My Fair Lady
, and Guys and Dolls
, and have attracted star talent, including Davis Gaines and Faith Prince
. They have also collaborated on a series of concert opera productions, including Carmen
and Porgy and Bess
to fill the void left by the now-defunct Orlando Opera
.
) to foster community interest in the art of puppetry
, OPF has evolved from a weekend-long festival to a multi-venue, two month-long series of puppetry-related happenings that bring local, national, and internationally recognized artists from around the world to Central Florida
.
began in late 1997 as a simple two-show project between a group of actors/directors in a former blueprint studio in Maitland, Florida
Maitland, Florida
Maitland is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States, part of the Greater Metro Orlando area. The population was 12,019 at the 2000 census. As of 2006, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 14,172...
. After an initial four year period of renting space from such mainstay Central Florida organizations as Rollins College
Rollins College
Rollins College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Winter Park, Florida , along the shores of Lake Virginia....
, The Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival
Orlando Shakespeare Theater
The Orlando began its first season with two Shakespearean productions in 1989. Based in Florida in Orlando's Loch Haven Park, Orlando Shakes has performed 41 mainstage productions of Shakespeare's works...
, The Civic Theatres of Central Florida, and the Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival
Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival
The Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival is a 13 day annual arts festival held during the month of May in Orlando, Florida. The festival includes theater, music, dance, and art. It was the first American Fringe Festival and has now grown to be one of the largest in the United States...
, Mad Cow is now celebrating its 14th Season in Downtown Orlando
Downtown Orlando
Downtown Orlando is the historic core and central business district of Orlando, Florida, United States. It is bordered by East Marks St in the north, Mills Ave in the east, Orange Blossom Trail in the west, and Kaley Ave in the south...
. Founding Artistic Director Alan Bruun retired in late 2010. Mad Cow has built collaborative relationships with other downtown businesses and has received two Golden Brick Awards for outstanding contribution to downtown life. Mad Cow Theatre has also been named "Best Theatre" by Orlando Magazine for several years in a row.
Regular Season
Mad Cow Theatre is one of Orlando's most respected professional theatre companies presenting compelling works of theatre for a wide-range of audiences. With a passion for both classic and contemporary plays representing the best of American and World literature, Mad Cow presented its 101st mainstage production with the start of the 2010 - 2011 season. Mad Cow Theatre works with Actors' Equity AssociationActors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...
under the Orlando Area Theatre contract, and holds open auditions annually. Each February, Mad Cow participates in United Arts of Central Florida's ArtsFest
ArtsFest
ArtsFest is an annual arts festival held in September in Birmingham, England.Since 1997 ArtsFest has brought together free short demonstrations of dance, music, film and theatre to concert halls, theatres, and open-air stages in various parts of central Birmingham...
, providing free tickets to selected performances.
In 2010, Mad Cow Theatre was the first regional theatre to produce Superior Donuts
Superior Donuts
Superior Donuts is a play by American playwright Tracy Letts. Its world premiere was staged by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2008, and it premiered on Broadway in 2009.-Synopsis:...
after its Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
run.
Orlando Cabaret Festival
Since 2002, Mad Cow Theatre has produced the Orlando Cabaret Festival, annually attracting the world’s finest cabaretCabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
talent to three weeks of lunchtime and evening shows, special events, and festivities in the heart of Downtown Orlando
Downtown Orlando
Downtown Orlando is the historic core and central business district of Orlando, Florida, United States. It is bordered by East Marks St in the north, Mills Ave in the east, Orange Blossom Trail in the west, and Kaley Ave in the south...
. The Cabaret Festival also features world-class local performers celebrating the best of the Great American Songbook
Great American Songbook
The Great American Songbook is a hypothetical construct that seeks to represent the best American songs of the 20th century principally from Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musicals, from the 1920s to 1960, including dozens of songs of enduring popularity...
. Taking place over three weeks, the Orlando Cabaret Festival encompass more than 40 performances.
Acting Classes
Adult and teen acting classes are offered evenings and during the summer at Mad Cow Theatre.Collaborations
Mad Cow Theatre enjoys collaborative partnerships with local governments, businesses, and Orlando arts groups, being named "Arts Collaborator of the Year" by United Arts of Central Florida.The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra
Mad Cow Theatre has collaborated with The Orlando Philharmonic OrchestraOrlando Philharmonic Orchestra
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra is one of Orlando's three unrelated per-service professional orchestras, the others being the Orlando Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Festival Society in residence at Rollins College. The OPO is based in Symphony Square at Loch Haven Park in Orlando, Florida, and...
for several concerts, presented at Bob Carr Performing Arts Center. These productions have included The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
, Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as then antagonist of the Victorian penny dreadful The String of Pearls and he was later introduced as an antihero in the broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and its film adaptation...
, My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
, and Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, most notably...
, and have attracted star talent, including Davis Gaines and Faith Prince
Faith Prince
Faith Prince is an American actress and singer known primarily for her work on Broadway. Prince has won the Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical and received three Tony nominations.-Life and career:...
. They have also collaborated on a series of concert opera productions, including Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
and Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
to fill the void left by the now-defunct Orlando Opera
Orlando Opera
The Orlando Opera was Orlando, Florida's professional opera company. Based in the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, the Orlando Opera performed multiple times a year in the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre and other venues in the central Florida region....
.
The Orlando Puppet Festival
This annual festival traditionally takes place in the fall and features a mix of live theatrical performances as well as film, gallery, and puppet slam events, geared variously towards either adult or family audiences. Conceived in 2005 by Heather Henson (daughter of Jim HensonJim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
) to foster community interest in the art of puppetry
Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance which involves the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to have originated 30,000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects...
, OPF has evolved from a weekend-long festival to a multi-venue, two month-long series of puppetry-related happenings that bring local, national, and internationally recognized artists from around the world to Central Florida
Central Florida
Central Florida is a regional designation for the area surrounding Orlando in east central Florida, United States. The area represents the third largest population concentration in Florida, after the South Florida and Tampa Bay regions, respectively....
.