In a follow up to our previous story about Mad Cow Theatre (Facebook Website) possibly losing their space on Church Street due to an outstanding debt owed to the City of Orlando, we have just received news that they have been served Termination of Lease paperwork and have been told to leave the property, effective immediately.

The City informed Mad Cow on October 20th that they were in breach of an agreement to use the space due to an outstanding debt in the amount of $121,742.40 for fees associated with their space in the Church Street Market building, and that failure to pay them the amount owed by the end of the month would result in them terminating the lease.

The City of Orlando has leased the space from ShopCore, the owners of 55 West and Church Street Market, since 2012, and sublease it to Mad Cow for $1 a year. Mad Cow, was responsible for paying for security services and a common area maintenance fee of $2,029.04 a month to Shop Core but they haven’t paid that fee in five years. Leaving the City to foot the bill.

The City of Orlando informed Bungalower that as of November 2 that no payment had been received, despite the October letter, and that they were forced to issue a Termination of Lease and Equipment Agreement to Mad Cow management, which you can read below along with the original letter sent on October 20.

The agreement states that the lease has been terminated immediately and that they have been requested to vacate and surrender possession of the premises upon receipt of the notice, and that they have been prohibited from removing any personal property, furniture, and equipment from the premises, which has all become the property of the City of Orlando, per the original lease agreement.

We have reached out to Mad Cow for a statement on what they plan to do next but had not heard back by the time of this post. If/when we do, we will update this story with their statement.

The theater had posted as recently as yesterday about their upcoming production of “The Broadway Bradshaws” on November 21, and we will wait and see if it is canceled or shifted to a new venue.

As we told you earlier in the week, Orlando Fringe is already in negotiations with the City of Orlando to potentially take over the theater.

Brendan O'Connor

Editor in Chief of Bungalower.com

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  1. At some point, someone had to hold MCT accountable to meet their financial obligations. So many gifted friends and performers failed to accomplish this in the past. The City actually has the power to say enough is enough. And it is. Sustainability is a skill this theater has always lacked. I hope they find a more appropriate venue for their revenue stream because I LOVE what they bring to our theater community creatively…just not their business model.