Mad Cow Theatre Announces the 15th Annual Orlando Cabaret Festival

Mad Cow Theatre announces the return of a singular downtown Orlando event - the 15th annual Orlando Cabaret Festival, featuring cabaret artists from Central Florida and beyond. This year's cabaret festival has a new look and feel as we move our festival from an annual event to a year-round series with a cabaret event during every season of the year!

This season Mad Cow Theatre is excited to welcome back Orlando's own Davis Gaines to his first Orlando Cabaret Festival appearancE. Davis appeared at the Bob Carr Theater in a collaboration between Mad Cow and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert staging of Sweeney Todd.

Over the course of 9 days, Mad Cow Theatre will host 12 performances, ranging from jazz to pop to Broadway to acapella and more.

The perennial CabFest favorite It Was a Very Good Year will return to celebrate the hits of 1970 and 1980.

The 15th annual Orlando Cabaret Festival will run May 13-21 at Mad Cow Theatre, 54 West Church St. (second floor), downtown Orlando. Tickets can be purchased through the Mad Cow box office at 407.297.8788 or at orlandocabaret.com.

Cabaret Festival performers and shows:

Davis Gaines, An Evening With Davis Gaines
May 13 at 8:15 p.m., all seats $40. In The Harriett.

Davis Gaines bring his intimate cabaret to Mad Cow Theatre with favorite Broadway songs and popular standards from the Great American Songbook. Davis received the Bay Area Critics' Award for best actor for his work as the Phantom in the West Coast production of The Phantom of the Opera, a role he repeated on Broadway. His other theatrical credits include the world premiere of Whistle Down the Wind, as well as the Encores! series' The Boys From Syracuse; Hello, Dolly!; Forbidden Broadway and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Gaines has sung with nearly every major symphony orchestra in North America. His two solo recordings, "Against the Tide" and "All My Tomorrows: Songs of Sammy Cahn," are available on LAP Records. In 2009, he starred in the title role of Sweeney Todd in a concert staging with Faith Prince at the Bob Carr Theater - a collaboration between Mad Cow Theatre and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra.

IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR: 1970 & 1980

Club Moo - (The Zehngebot-Stonerock Black Box)

Various times and dates, May 13-21, $20 all seats. $30 for tickets to both shows on May 14, May 19, and May 21. In Club Moo (The Zehngebot-Stonerock Black Box)

A staple of the Orlando Cabaret Festival, It Was a Very Good Year transports audiences back to 1970 and 1980 in two separate musical revues. Continuing the collaboration of writer Ron Schneider and music director Timothy Turner, It Was a Very Good Year features hits from the '70 and '80. The cast of It Was A Very Good Year include Mad Cow favorites Hannah Benitez (Three Sisters), Glenn Gover (The Explorer's Club), Heather Kopp (The Secret Garden), and Emily Sheetz (1776). Pictures L-R in alphabetical order.

1970

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" to keep you from Mad Cow Theatre's Club Moo and It Was a Very Good Year - 1970. We'll boogie to the hits of the Jackson Five, the Carpenters, Steve Wonder, and Three Dog Night, reliving the days of platform shoes and polyester. Mama told you to come to the Orlando Cabaret Festival's It Was a Very Good Year - 1970!

1980

"And the Beat Goes On" with Mad Cow's CabFest and It Was a Very Good Year - 1980. Join the gang at Club Moo for choice tunes from Billy Joel, Kenny Rogers, Neil Diamond, Dr. Hook and lots more. Slip on your velour sweatsuit or your shoulder pads, take a chill pill and meet us at Mad Cow for It Was a Very Good Year - 1980!

Out-To-Lunch Series

May 17 at noon - It Was A Very Good Year: 1970
May 18 at noon - It Was A Very Good Year: 1980
All lunchtime shows last about 45 minutes and start at noon.
Club Moo will open at 11:15 am for those who want to arrive and dine early

SEASON 21 CABARET EVENTS
Coming up in Season 21: We know you love cabaret as much as we do! We're excited to announce that our new Orlando Cabaret Festival schedule features an event for every season of the year! Performers from Broadway, Pop, Jazz and beyone as well as your local favorites will continue to appear in The Harriett and Club Moo. Check out our new schedule:

Fall Into Cabaret - late October
It Was A Very Good Yule - Dec. 8-23, 2017
It Was A Very Good Year - April 27-May 12, 2018
Summer Sizzle Series - early July 2018

The 2017 Orlando Cabaret Festival is sponsored by The City of Orlando, Orange County, the State of Florida, and DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando Downtown.

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