UPDATE 8/8/22: Orlando Fringe executive director, Alauna Friskics, shared this morning that all of the missing equipment has miraculously reappeared. A spokesperson from the City of Orlando has shared that they will drop the lawsuit provided all items have been returned – a complete inventory is being taken.
The City of Orlando is suing Mad Cow Theatre (Facebook | Website) for removing equipment from their former City-subsidized home on Church Street, which the City paid for, after getting the boot for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid debt.
Mad Cow, which was the inspiration for the cover of our March 2022 print issue, reached a settlement with the City of Orlando in February 2022 that stated the city would wave the debt if the theater group left the theater by May 31, 2022, and left all of the equipment as is.
The City of Orlando filed a lawsuit on July 29 stating that the theater company (allegedly) took more than $30,000 in equipment from the building when they left, including everything from ticket scanners to sandbags.
Mad Cow’s director, Mitzi “Legal Honey Badger” Maxwell, recently told Orlando Sentinel that she only took what they were “entitled to.”
The city is actively seeking the equipment because it had guaranteed the new tenants of the space, Orlando Fringe, that the theater would be a turn-key venue for their new theater incubator program, which the Community Redevelopment Agency has already agreed to back with a $307,000 grant. Fringe director Alauna Frischics has already stated that the absence of the equipment could result in a massive delay in their opening timetable, which was originally estimated to be sometime in early 2023.
Mad Cow is yet to share a statement on the settlement, the move, and the missing equipment, but did update its website asking people to sign up for their e-newsletter to find out what “exciting things are in the works.”
The City of Orlando has stated that it will drop the suit if Mad Cow returns all of the items.
Purchased tickets to a show and COVID shut them down. Tried to get a refund but was told I can use the credit for a future show. Guess I won’t see that 100 bucks again.
Hummmmm!!!!!!