Mad Cow announces Sondheim opener for new theater

'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,' by Georges Seurat

Mad Cow Theatre is just hinting at what will make up its 15th season, which will start out in the two current theater spaces on Magnolia Avenue and move, in January 2012, to 54 W. Church St.

But they’ve opened up about one thing, and it’s a biggie: The musical opening the new theater spaces, from Jan. 27 to Feb. 19, 2012, is Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park With George.

More cabaret shows planned for Winter Park Playhouse

A bunch of familiar Central Florida musical-theater people have signed on for cabaret shows this summer and fall at Winter Park Playhouse:

• Heather Alexander and Laura Hodos, Aug. 10 and 11 (corrected dates).
• Kevin Kelly and Kate O’Neal, Sept. 22 and 23.
• Natalie Cordone, Oct. 26 and 27.
• Brian and Melissa Minyard, Nov. 10 and 11.

Chris Leavy aims to take Manhattan (and K.C.)

Christopher Leavy

Send your best leg-breaking thoughts to singer-pianist Chris Leavy, who’s taking his hit Fringe show I’m Just Not That Gay to New York July 13 and then on to the Kansas City Fringe July 22-29.

Here are the details:

Cabaret Fest to close with Nunziata twins as headliners

Will Nunziata & Anthony Nunziata debut at Feinstein's

Here’s more on Will and Anthony Nunziata, the twin singers who will headline the Orlando Cabaret Festival this weekend:

Tony DeSare to open weekend at Cabaret Festival

Tony DeSare

Singer-pianist Tony DeSare seems to be all over the place these days — on Prairie Home Companion last weekend, playing with the New York Pops earlier this week. Now he’s set to headline the Orlando Cabaret Festival Thursday night through Sunday afternoon.

Here’s a little rundown on Tony and a link to his website:

Cabaret Fest opens Friday with Broadway Boy Jesse Nager — and friend

It’s Orlando Cabaret Festival time again, and we cabaret fans will be getting ourselves down to Mad Cow Theatre to hear some discoveries from the New York cabaret scene along with some swell local talent. Here’s news about the first weekend’s headliner:

Jesse Nager and Andrea Canny:

Jesse Nager

The Boys are back! Well, one of the boys … The Broadway Boys’ founder and artistic director, Jesse Nager is back in town – this time with a show of his own!

Jesse Nager is joined onstage by Andrea Canny … two of your Cabaret Favorites together at last!

A veteran of several Broadway shows and national tours, Jesse will sing all the best songs from these iconic shows — that belonged to other characters. The performance will feature music from Mary Poppins, Mamma Mia!, Good Vibrations, and many more.

Andrea Canny

No stranger to Orlando audiences after three appearances with the Broadway Boys, Jesse goes it alone with Songs I didn’t Get to Sing.

Jesse has sung with Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, and Jason Mraz and is also a member of the Broadway Inspirational Voices. Jesse is the artistic director of the Broadway Boys, a collection of New York tenors that add elements of pop/gospel/funk to traditional musical theater repertoire.

Tickets & Times:

4/29 at 8 pm |  4/30 at 8 pm |  5/1 at 3 pm

Learn more about  Our Headliners >

Learn more about the Songwriters’ Spotlight Series >

Learn more about our It Was A Very Good Year Series >

The more you see, the more you save!  Learn about our package deals.

Tickets are limited. Please call the Mad Cow Theatre box office at 407.297.8788 to reserve your tickets. Not applicable with any other special offer or discount. Offer only applies to performances listed above while supplies last.

For more information about The Orlando Cabaret Festival visit our website at orlandocabaret.com.

Due to the nature of live theatre, all artists, schedules and programming are subject to change. We regret any inconveniences.

Mad Cow Theatre | 105 S. Magnolia Ave. | Orlando, FL 32801

Mad Cow wants to train kids in the art of cabaret

Here’s an interesting idea — kids’ cabaret, or more specifically, kids from the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs being trained in the art of cabaret.

That’s the goal of Mad Cow Theatre in a partnership with the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Central Florida — and, naturally enough, you can help.

In fact, this project will only happen if Mad Cow is able to raise at least $530 by May 12. We ought to be able to do that:

Jazz trio added to Cabaret Festival lineup

Mad Cow Theatre, with the cooperation of the Consulate of Mexico, has added the Javier Nandayapa Trio to the lineup of the upcoming Orlando Cabaret Festival. The trio will give a free concert May 4 at Mad Cow.

Mad Cow announces cabaret headliners

Here’s more news on the upcoming Orlando Cabaret Festival at Mad Cow Theatre, with the schedule of the festival’s headliners now complete. They are:

• 

  Jesse Nager

  Jesse Nager, Broadway singer and artistic director of the Broadway Boys, appearing with Andrea Canny,  April 29-May 1.

• Tony DeSare, singer, pianist and songwriter, May 5-8.
• Will and Anthony Nunziata, singers (and identical twins), May 12-15.

Also on the schedule, a string of Songwriters’ Spotlight performers, including some local favorites:

Cabaret Festival to feature newcomers Will & Anthony Nunziata

Will and Anthony Nunziata

Mad Cow Theatre’s Orlando Cabaret Festival has featured some big names in the past, but this year it’s taking a leap toward the up-and-coming, with its guests the final weekend Will and Anthony Nunziata.

The two very handsome 20-something identical twins will headline the festival’s final weekend May 12-15.

‘Wicked’ cabaret will help Broadway Cares and Orange arts-ed center

Cast members from the national tour of Wicked, in Orlando for the next month or so, will perform in a cabaret show to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Orange County Arts Education Center.

The place? The new Mezz, the events space owned by Florida Theatrical Association at the corner of Pine Street and Eola Drive in Thornton Park.

Details here:

Andrea Canny starts new cabaret series

There’s a new cabaret series in town, and it’s just in time for Valentine’s Day.

GOAT’s Cherry Street home is no more

Greater Orlando Actors’ Theatre has given up on moving back into its onetime home at 669 Cherry St. in Winter Park, board member Paul Castaneda says.

The group did about half a dozen shows at the Cherry Street building in 2009 but had to leave it early this year because of problems with Winter Park city codes. Both the landlord and GOAT itself put in money to bring the building up to code. (Bathrooms and egress were among the problems.) But Castaneda says the cost kept rising and eventually it just became too much.

Robby Pigott to do cabaret at WP Playhouse

The next cabaret performer for the Winter Park Playhouse’s Spotlight Series will be Orlando singer/actor T. Robert Pigott, who will perform in the Playhouse’s lovely little lobby bar Oct. 8 and 9. Chris Leavy, the theater’s musical director, will accompany him on the piano.

A little more on Red Chair

Image via Wikipedia

It was fun to read my former colleague and friend Matt Palm’s take on Saturday night’s Red Chair Affair: He and I had a lot of the same reactions to an evening that was full of artistic surprises.

Used to be that Red Chair was full of exactly what we expected — little bits and pieces of the tried and true. Not so much this time around — not with spoken wordsmithing from my buddy Tod Caviness and a Jersey Boys re-creation from the Orlando Gay Chorus. And not with some real thrills from a bunch of familiar faces:

Opening this week:

Here’s a look at what’s opening in Central Florida this week — a production of The Hobbit, performed by In the Limelight at Lowndes Shakespeare Center, and Andrea Canny’s new cabaret show, My Favs!, at Winter Park Playhouse.

Opening this week

Lots going on this week, including the Tony Awards on CBS Sunday night. Here’s a look at what’s happening closer to home:

Fromn the Fringe: ‘Janine Klein, Gay Bar Star’

Fringe review: Janine Klein: Gay Bar Star, John Ryan and His Divas, Orlando

By Elizabeth Maupin

Most gay icons are larger than life, and Janine Klein fits that bill.  Not that she’s physically bigger than the rest of us, but her gay-bar-star persona fills up the room. And that voice … well, let’s just say that, when she’s singing, Klein has no need of a mike.

Opening this week (besides the Fringe)

While a lot of us are busy Fringeing, there’s other theater going on. Here’s some of it:

Coming up this week

Here’s an early edition of what’s opening this week, beginning with the Tony nominee and cabaret superstar Karen Akers at Mad Cow: