Meet the cast & crew of 1776!
Eileen Antonescu as Dr. Lyman Hall
Eileen is thrilled to return to the Mad Cow Theatre, where she last appeared in 2006 as the Nanny in Antigone, when
she returned to acting after taking time out to raise her lovely daughters.
This year she was blessed to have performed in The Playwrights Round Table
Summer Shorts production of Shore Leave,
at Osceola Arts Center as Sister Aloysius in Doubt, and at the Breakthrough Theatre as Aunt March in Little Women and the Hospice Worker in As Is. She has a reoccurring role as Ida
Straus at the Titanic Gala Dinner Show on International Drive. Eileen studied acting with Sanford Meisner at New York City’s Neighborhood Playhouse. She thanks her daughters Lexi and Tiffany for all their support and love.
Sara Catherine Barnes as Richard Henry Lee
Sara is thrilled to be returning to Mad Cow for her 11th show in the pasture. Sara Catherine's previous roles at Mad Cow include Martha in The
Secret Garden, Olive
Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Jenny
in Company, Gymnasia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way
to the Forum, Rose Mundy in Dancing at Lughnasa, and the tour
guide in The Light in the Piazza. She also choreographed James Joyce's The Dead and The Light
in the Piazza. Other favorite roles include the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, Maria
in The Sound of Music, Tracy
Turnblad in Hairspray, Woman 2 in Songs For A New
World, and
Wendy Jo in the national tour of Footloose: The Musical. Sara
Catherine received a bachelor of fine arts in musical theatre from the
University of Central Florida Conservatory Theatre, and she heads the dance
department at Celebration High School.
Hilda A. Cathey as Roger Sherman
Hilda is excited to be on stage with so many incredibly talented women. She previously appeared in the Mad Cow/OPO production of Sweeney Todd. She was last seen as Domina in A Funny...Forum at Osceola Arts. Other shows in the Central Florida area include Joseph...Dreamcoat; Nunsense; Nunsense II; Nuncrackers; Godspell; 1776; The Sound of Music; The Taffetas; Guys & Dolls; Two by Two; Damn Yankees; Hello Dolly!; and Falsettos. Hilda is a proud graduate of Florida State University where she received her degree in elementary education. Much love to Rod and Lauren.
Roberta Emerson as Rev. Jonathan Witherspoon
Roberta is a graduate of both the University of Minnesota with a BFA in acting and New York University with an MFA in acting. She has worked in many regional theaters around the country, performed extensive voice over and film work, and has been a teaching artist both state-side and in Europe. She is currently the theatre director at Montverde Academy and an affiliate director with CFCARTS. She is excited to be with Mad Cow for the first time on this amazing production with such strong women.
Christina Griffith as Robert Livingston
Christina is thrilled to make her debut with the Mad Cow herd. Born and raised in the greater Los Angeles area, she received her bachelor of music degree from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. A few theatrical career highlights include M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias; Doris in Same Time, Next Year; Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Maria in Sound of Music; Eliza Doolitte in My Fair Lady; Lexie in Dixie Swim Club; and Claire in Proof. Her greatest role is playing the founding mother of three brilliant boys, and she is married to her favorite person, Rob. Soli Deo Gloria!
Laura Hodos* as John Adams
Laura is ecstatic to return to Mad Cow. Audiences may remember her as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, as Margaret in The Light in the Piazza, or from five solo shows at the Cabaret Festival. She’s a four-time Carbonell Award nominee and winner of the New Times Critic’s Choice for Best Supporting Actress of 2016. Laura just finished being a cabaret fellow with the Cabaret & Performance Conference at the O’Neill Theatre Center, after playing Abigail Adams and John Hancock in 1776 at Palm Beach Dramaworks. Other favorites include A Minister's Wife (GableStage); Into the Woods (Arsht Center with Tituss Burgess); Les Miserables (Missouri Street Theatre); Blithe Spirit, Hair, Spelling Bee (American Stage); Agamemnon (Orlando Shakespeare); Streetcar (Seaside); First Date, Toxic Avenger (Actors’ Playhouse); Will Rogers Follies (Maltz Jupiter Theatre); Romance/Romance (Slow Burn); Working, She Loves Me, Into the Woods, Follies (Caldwell); Company, Zorba, The Most Happy Fella, 1776 (Palm Beach Dramaworks); Bonnie & Clyde (Asolo Rep with Jeremy Jordan
and Laura Osnes). www.LauraHodos.com
Hannah Laird* as Abigail Adams
Hannah won a Drama Desk Award for her performance as Ali in the Off Broadway a cappella musical In Transit. Previously at Mad Cow she appeared as Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. Other local credits include Carousel (Carrie) and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Rosemary) with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and Ragtime (Mother) with Encore Cast Performing Arts. Other regional credits include The Marriage of Figaro, The Importance of Being Earnest, Much Ado About Nothing, Harry Connick Jr.’s The Happy Elf, The Secret Garden, Disney’s Finding Nemo – The Musical (original cast). She is a graduate of the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music and a proud member of AEA. Love to Mom & Dad. Jer. 29:11
Jac Le Doux as Andrew McNair
Jac has been entertaining audiences for over 40 years. After attending Siena Heights College in Adrian, Michigan, she appeared in over 100 productions from Michigan to Connecticut to Florida. Some of her favorite roles include Little Mary Sunshine from the musical of the same name, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Jez in A Slow Ride, Veta in Harvey, and Abigail Adams in 1776. Jac has also branched out into the directing realm. While in Connecticut, she directed Godspell, Prisoner of Second Avenue, and Deathtrap. For the past two years, she was privileged to direct shows and workshops at Long Lake Camp for the Arts in beautiful upstate New York for their summer season. Jac is overjoyed to be appearing onstage in her first Mad Cow production in the company of such amazing women.
Sarah Lockard as Judge James Wilson
Sarah is thrilled to be back in the pasture with this amazing group of ladies. Previous Mad Cow credits include Mrs. Warren's Profession (Vivie Warren); The Lion in Winter (Alais); Amadeus (Constanze); Major Barbara (Jenny Hill); and Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Marina). She recently returned from Seattle, where she performed in I Gelosi with Stage Right Theater and at the Bumbershoot Music Festival with Playlist Seattle. She performs regularly at Sleuth's Mystery Dinner Shows and Voci Dance. She would like to thank her sister Bethany for singing these songs with her in the canoe, on road trips, and to annoy the rest of the family.
Patti McGuire as Col. Thomas McKean
Patti is happy to be in her fifth show with Mad Cow Theatre; she previously appeared as Aunt Julia
in James Joyce’s The Dead, two
separate productions of My Fair Lady,
and in The Music Man. Patti moved to
Orlando when cast as the original Iowa Housewife in Menopause The Musical. She has also appeared locally in shows at
the Orlando Repertory Theatre, Winter Park Playhouse, SeaWorld, and Fringe
Festival. Patti is the 504 Coordinator and the Speech/Debate coach at Winter
Park High School. She earned her master of fine arts degree in acting from
Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Jamie Middleton as John Dickinson
Jamie graduated summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida and has been performing on stage for almost 30 years. This marks her 15th production at Mad Cow, which includes You Can't Take It with You, Table Manners, Assassins, The Heidi Chronicles, Present Laughter, A Delicate Balance, Arcadia, Later Life, Romeo and Juliet, The Butter and Egg Man, The Life of Galileo, Anton in Show Business, The Cherry Orchard, and an actor's nightmare weekend in Candida. She was most recently seen as Liz in The Whale at the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden. She has worked as an actress for Universal Orlando since 1995 and is a former model for Walt Disney Feature Animation. She also enjoys performing voiceover work. She sends her love and gratitude to Stephen, Christian, and Ariel, who make everything possible and worthwhile.
Meghan Colleen Moroney* as John Hancock
Meghan has been lucky enough to have an eclectic career featuring performances on Broadway (Mamma Mia), cruise ships (NCL, Dolphin), theme parks (Universal, Disney, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens), regional theatres, and TV (as a host for the Home Shopping Network). Favorite roles include Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, Charlotte in A Little Night Music, The Baker's Wife in Into the Woods, and Madame Thenardier is Les Miserables. Recently, she was seen at the DPAC in Encore's production of Ragtime as Emma Goldman. In the pasture of Mad Cow, she has been seen as Dolly Levi in The Matchmaker, Old Lady/Blair in Sunday in the Park with George, and Gretta in James Joyce's The Dead. She is a proud member of Actor's Equity and thanks you for supporting live theatre.
Whitney Morse as George Read
Whitney is so excited to be back with "the herd" here at Mad Cow, where she was last seen as Hannah Jarvis in The Science Play Festival's reading of Arcadia and as Claire Holmes in The Secret Garden. Her recent Chicago credits
include Next to Normal, Other Desert Cities, The Children’s Hour, Spike Heels, Down Range, Trafford
Tanzi, I Carry Your Heart, Accomplice, The
Turn of the Screw, Jeeves at Sea, Unnecessary Farce, The Merchant
of Venice, and Little Women. New York credits include Hold
Music (Culture Project) and Love’s Labour’s Lost and Three
Sisters (both directed by Andrei Serban.) Next up are Next to Normal, The Last Five Years, and Proof with The Studio Theatre Tierra Del Sol's in their inaugural season. Whitney is also the Artistic Director of The Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center in The Villages, Florida.
Lauren Muller as Lewis Morris
Lauren is so excited to be making her mainstage debut at Mad Cow. A native of Orlando, Lauren received her degree in theatre from Florida State University. She has previously performed in Mad Cow’s stage reading of Headstrong in their Science Play Festival. She
has also had the privilege of portraying the role of Yolanda in every Central
Florida production of Crowns (Wayne
Densch, Cultural Fusion). She has performed with the Orlando Repertory Theatre
(Busytown) and directed the Black Actors’ Guild productions of Zooman and the Sign and Ruined. Lauren can currently be seen
puppeteering in various shows throughout Walt Disney World and singing at
Universal Orlando. She would like to thank her family and friends for their
continued support.
Jennafer Newberry* as Martha Jefferson
Jennafer is thrilled to return to the pasture alongside such a talented cast of women. Some favorite credits include Shelley in Bat
Boy: The Musical; Clara in Mad Cow's The
Light in the Piazza; the NYC Off-Broadway Production of Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?; and
roles in Parade, Little Women, and Bye Bye
Birdie. She can currently be seen in Finding
Nemo the Musical at Walt Disney World. Occasionally you can also see her at
Disney in the Hoop Dee Doo Revue and American Music Machine. Jennafer is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and a proud member of Actors' Equity Association. She sends endless love and gratitude to her family: near and far, blood and chosen. They know who they are. Ps 63:7
Janine Papin as Charles Thomson
Janine joyfully returns to the pasture to play with the Mad Cow Theatre herd. Janine was last seen in our production of Secret Garden. She works at Trinity
Preparatory School in Winter Park, where she is the fine arts chair, auditorium
manager, theatre teacher, and director. In 2006 she was awarded the H. Benton
Ellis Award for excellence in teaching. She loves performing and sharing her
passion for the stage with her students. Some of her favorite roles
include the Mother Superior (Nunsense, Theatreworks Florida), Gertie (33 Variations, Beth Marshall Presents), Beggar Woman (Sweeney Todd, Mad Cow Theatre and Theatreworks Florida), Pennywise (Urinetown, Valencia
College), Mrs. Pierce (My Fair Lady, Orlando Philharmonic/Mad Cow Theatre), and Fräulein Schneider (Cabaret, Valencia
College and Starlight Dinner Theater).
Lulu Picart* as Edward Rutledge
Lulu has toured in R H
Cinderella First National Tour (Charlotte) and Listen to My
Heart with David Friedman. Off-Broadway she performed in Disenchanted! (Lortel
nomination) and at Mad Cow in The Drowsy Chaperone (Musical
Director, Pianist) and The Orlando Cabaret Festival. Regional credits include Man
of La Mancha (Aldonza), Wit, Mame (Agnes Gooch,
Tampa Bay Theatre Award), Rent, Hair, The Rocky Horror Show (Eddie/Dr.
Scott), and How to Succeed… (with the Orlando Philharmonic).
Concerts include Toxic Audio, In Transit at 54 Below, and A Tribute to David Friedman (Metropolitan
Room). Film work includes Frozen (Blu-Ray special
features) and Going in Style (2017). She is a Comedy Warehouse
alum and co-founder and coach at www.findyourlightcoaching.org. She sends thanks and love to all her family and friends. They’re her happy. @lulupicart
Pilar Rehert as Samuel Chase
Pilar is thrilled to be making her Mad Cow debut in 1776. She is honored to be part of telling such an impactful and relevant story with such an extraordinary cast of incredible women. Recent credits include Capone’s Dinner and Show, Ursula at Titusville Playhouse, and co-composer of the Fringe Patron's Pick show Doro & Diega. Film work includes
House of Payne, Hustler the Series, and Lust. She wants to give a huge thanks to her brilliant mother for all her love and support. Thank you to Mark, Heather, and Mitzi for letting her be part of this transformative experience. As current political developments seem worrisome, the need to tell this story is only amplified. Let us remember "indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Beryl Rochatka as Stephen Hopkins
Beryl hails from Boston where she performed with Reagle Music Theatre. Beryl has studied at HB Studios in New York and SAK Comedy Lab here in Orlando, to name a few. She has been a SAG voice-over agent in LA, wrangled stars for six years on the Hollywood Christmas Parade, and worked on AIDS Project Los Angeles with Donna McKechnie
and Julie Harris. Last seen at Mad Cow in The Music Man with the Orlando Philharmonic, her other roles include Mrs. Lovett in Sweeny Todd,
Dolly in Hello Dolly, Mama Morton in Chicago, and the Queen of the
Snowflakes in Mickey's Nutcracker at Disneyland. Beryl can be heard working her improv at Universal Orlando as The Mystic Fountain.
Emilie Jean Scheetz as A Courier
Emilie is ecstatic to be making her Mad Cow debut. A junior at Windermere Preparatory School, her past roles include Susan in Tick,
Tick... Boom!, Pennywise in Urinetown, and Drowsy in The
Drowsy Chaperone at Dr. Phillips High School. She has also played
Fiona in Shrek the Musical at Windermere Prep and Liza
in Peter Pan at the Garden Theatre. She would like to thank "the herd" for this amazing opportunity and her mom and dad for always supporting her. YouTube.com/user/EmmyShines
Marjorie Tingle as Dr. Josiah Bartlett
Mesiner-trained actress Marjorie Tingle has performed in several repertory theatres throughout Central Florida, such as the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre. Born and raised in NYC, Marjorie has been cast in numerous independent films. Her most recent short "Protection" won for Best Short Drama at the Orlando Urban Film Festival. She was given the lead role as detective in Mistakeout which was selected in the Orlando 48 Hour Film Project. Marjorie has trained with several talented and brilliant directors in the industry. Currently she has been in training with Mr. Ken Eulo, the founder of the NYC Acting Ensemble. Her greatest blessings are her three beautiful children. Marjorie's life long dream is to return to NYC to perform on Broadway.
Rachel Whittington as A Leather Apron
Rachel is thrilled to back with the Herd. Rachel is an Elon University graduate. She was featured in several operas with the Opera Academy of California, led by Metropolitan Opera director Yefim Maizel. In 2012, she performed with multi-platinum singer/songwriter Ben Folds. Central Florida credits include Gypsy (Louise), Into the Woods (Rapunzel), The Secret Garden (Alice), The Dead, Equus, and The Philadelphia Story. Other credits include The Music Man (featured/understudy Marian), Don Giovanni, Dialogues of the
Carmelites, Gianni Schicchi (understudy
Lauretta). Rachel would like to thank her family, friends, and everyone who
chooses live theatre for making her dream job a reality.
Melissa Whitworth as Thomas Jefferson
Melissa is thrilled to be returning to Mad Cow Theatre after appearing in It Was a Very Good Year as part of the Orlando Cabaret Festival for the past two years. Mel graduated in 2013 from the Florida State University College of Music and currently works as an actor for Universal Studios with witches, robots, spinach, and a capella singers. Recent credits include the title role in the Florida premier of Mary Poppins, Princess Fiona in Shrek, Cindy in SUDS, and Elizabeth in Young Frankenstein. Upcoming engagements include Another Night Before Christmas at the Broadway Palm and a tribute show to the Carpenters at Theatre Winter Haven. "Where there is gratitude, there is no fear."
Jessica Womack as Joseph Hewes
Jessica is excited to make her Orlando debut in such an innovative version of 1776. She graduated from East Tennessee State University with a B.A. in theatre and a minor in dance. Jessica interned at The Jewish Ensemble Theatre in Michigan, where she became a part of the Equity Membership Candidate program performing in 4000 Miles. She most recently starred in two of The Jewish Ensemble Theatre's anti-bullying Detroit outreach shows: Mean Girls and I was Just Kidding. Jessica would like to thank her friends, family and boyfriend for all their love and support.
Karel K. Wright* as Benjamin Franklin
Karel is thrilled to be back in the pasture as Ben Franklin. Previous roles at Mad Cow include Aunt Kate in James Joyce’s The Dead, Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Ruth Steiner in Collected Stories, Mrs. Graves in Enchanted April, Mrs. Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer, and Lavinia in The Heiress. Some of Karel’s favorite regional credits include Mattie Fae in August: Osage County; Claire Castle in Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun; and Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. Karel is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and received her BFA from the University of Minnesota and MFA from the University of Illinois with additional training at The American Conservatory of Theatre in San Francisco. For more information on Karel, visit her website at www.karelkwright.com
Julie Zimmerman as Caesar Rodney
Manufactured in Sandusky, Ohio, circa the late 1950s, Julie Zimmerman feels completely at home in the pastures of Mad Cow. Zimmerman began her career in musical theater, but after moving to Los Angeles at the tender age of 20, she found herself working at the Comedy Store as an improvisational comedian. A member of the long-running improvisational comedy group Off the Wall, she worked with the illustrious Robin Williams; John Ritter; Andy Goldberg; and Kenny Levine, the Emmy Award-winning comedy series writer of M*A*S*H, Cheers, The Simpsons, and Frasier. Her 19-year-old daughter Olivia wants you to know her mother worked for Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida for 15 years and is the creator of Halloween Horror Nights.
Directed by Mark Edward Smith
Music Direction by Heather Langs
Choreography by Sara Catherine Barnes
Scenic Design by Robert F. Wolin**
Lighting Design by Amy Hadley
Sound Design/Audio Engineering by Rudy Olin
Properties by Lisa Buck
Stage Management by Karl Lengel*
*Members of Actors' Equity Association
**Member of United Scenic Artists Local USA 829