Meet the cast & crew of You Can't Take It With You!
Bobbie Bell as Anthony W. Kirby
Bobbie is delighted to make his acting debut in Mad Cow’s new space. Previous acting credits at Mad Cow include: Father Jack in Dancing at Lughnasa, Old Actor in The Fantasticks, and 22 characters including the title role in Macbeth. He also performed with Orlando Ballet as Sancho Panza in Don Quixote and Doctor Coppelius in Coppélia. He directed the following plays for the herd: Clybourne Park, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, August: Osage County, The Pitmen Painters, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Caretaker, and A Delicate Balance. He twice won the Florida Playwrights Competition for his plays: Pascua De Flores and Of: a Play of Artemis. Bobbie dedicates this performance to his sons Michael and Patrick.
Sheryl Carbonell as Rheba
Sheryl is honored to be part of the cast of You Can’t Take It With You. Sheryl was last seen at Mad Cow in Dreamgirls as the Stepp Sister and Ensemble. Sheryl’s favorite roles include Calpurnia in To Kill a Mockingbird (Orlando Shakespeare Theater), Elizabeth Keckley in Civil War Voices (Orlando Repertory Theatre), Rachel Robinson in Jackie and Me (Orlando Repertory Theatre), and the Third Spirit in The Magic Flute (Orlando Opera Company). She can also be seen in commercials for Disney and Mullinax Ford. She was the Arts Advocate Host on season four of MSN.com’s Mom’s Homeroom, which was sponsored by Microsoft and Kellogg’s. Sheryl is a choral music teacher for Orange County Public Schools. She received her masters degree in music education from the University of Central Florida. Sheryl wishes to thank God, her mother and father, sisters, and teachers for their nurturing and support. sherylcarbonell.com
Lucy Carney as Miriam Kirby
Lucy is thrilled to return to Mad Cow, as she has not frolicked in the pasture since playing La Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses long ago. She has been performing in Central Florida for more than 20 years, most often in numerous PlayFest! productions at Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Lucy received her theatre arts degree from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. She performed at several theaters in the Washington, DC, area before moving to Orlando. She wishes to thank Dave and this lovable family of cast and crew for all the fun and laughter. And, it is to her husband, Mike, and children, Tim and Caroline, whom she gives all her love.
Sarah French as Alice Sycamore
Previous Mad Cow credits:
Clybourne Park (Betsy/Lindsay)
Urinetown (Little Sally),
Our Town (Emily Webb),
Kid Simple (Moll),
Everyman (Good Deeds). Other Orlando credits:
Bubble Gum Party (Abby),
Lost Highway (Audrey Williams),
Crimes of the Heart (Babe),
Three Days of Rain (Nan/Lina),
Los Angeles: Compleat Female Stage Beauty (Nell Gwynn), The Foreigner (Catherine), As You Like It (Audrey), Loves’ Labour’s Lost (Jaquenetta), The Tempest (Ariel). Film/TV: Semper Fight (Breaking Glass Pictures), Miss Guidance (Johnny Lee Productions), Comedy Gumbo (AwkwardPictures), Bloodline (Netflix/Sony). Sarah studies scene study and Meisner with Lauren O’Quinn at Class Act Studios.
Robert Johnston* as Tony Kirby
Robert is thrilled to be returning to Mad Cow, and joining this incredible cast. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity. Just a few of his prior credits include: Mike in The
Philadelphia Story, Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (with the Orlando Philharmonic), Matthew in Altar Boyz, Dakin in The History Boys, Andrew Jackson in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Barnaby in Hello Dolly! (starring Sally Struthers), Travis in Clark Gable Slept Here, and Fabrizio in The Light in the Piazza. He is surrounded by incredible family, friends and loved ones and is ever grateful for their support.
Garrett Jurss as Man 1
Garrett received his B.A. in theatre from the University of Central Florida, and he is thrilled to be returning for his fourth show at Mad Cow. Past Mad Cow credits include: Legacy of Light, The Philadelphia Story, and Clybourne Park. Locally he has appeared in Beauty and the Beast; Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging
Queens; Good People; Company; Urinetown the Musical; and Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. He studies with Lauren O’Quinn at Class Act Studios. Garrett would like to thank Sean, Mom, Russ, and his dog, Bagel, for their continued love and support as he follows his dreams.
Ame Livingston* as Essie Sycamore Carmichael
Ame is in that play at Mad Cow about the crazy family, dealing with life struggles, around a dinner table! You mean August: Osage County (Karen Weston)? I love that play. Nope. Oh, must be Table Manners (Annie) then, right? Not what I was thinking. Got it, Dinner With Friends (Karen). Huh. Ame seems to have a running streak with shows about a family around a dinner table. She was a member with Orlando Theatre Project and was in Doubt: A Parable (Sister James) and It’s a Wonderful Life (Mary Bailey), right? Yep! And I saw her play Blanche Dubois in the reading of A Streetcar Named Desire at Orlando Shakespeare, at Play Fest, and in many a Fringe show too. Huh, I thought that she looked familiar.
Thom Mesrobian as Paul Sycamore
Thom is very happy to continue his relationship with Mad Cow, having previously being seen as Charley in
Death of A Salesman and Reg in
Table Manners. He recently won the 2015 Pierrot Award for best supporting actor for his comic portrayal of Todd, the Scottish hit man, in
Unnecessary Farce at Theatre Winter Haven. Favorite roles include John Wilkes Booth in
Assassins with Cornerstone Theatre, Richard Nixon in
Frost/Nixon at Theatre Winter Haven, and Bialystock in
The Producers at Lakeland Community
Theatre. Thom works as a theme park actor during the day and lives in Lakeland with his wonderful and extremely patient wife Tonya. He would like to thank the talented cast and the exceptionally hardworking staff and crew for bringing the beautiful and simple message of this play to life.
Jamie Middleton as Gay Wellington
Jamie graduated summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida. Since 1989, she has performed on stages throughout Florida and has been employed as an actress with Universal Orlando for more than 20 years. She is thrilled to be back at Mad Cow with this wonderful cast and crew, having last been seen as Ruth in Table Manners. Previous productions with the herd include Assassins, The Heidi Chronicles, Present Laughter, A Delicate Balance, Arcadia, Later Life, The Butter and Egg
Man, The Life of Galileo, Anton in Show Business, The Chekhov Project’s production of The Cherry Orchard, and an actor’s nightmare weekend in Candida (She’ll tell you the story sometime). She sends her love and gratitude to Stephen, Christian, and Ariel for their love, support, joy, and inspiration.
Robin Proett Olson* as Penelope Sycamore
Robin is grateful to be back at Mad Cow Theatre once again. She was last seen as Bev/Kathy in Clybourne Park. Some of her Orlando theatre credits include Death of a Salesman (Linda), August: Osage County (Mattie Fae), and The Road to Mecca (Miss Helen) at Mad Cow Theatre and Sense and Sensability (Lady Middleton) and Pride and Prejudice (Lady Catherine) at Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Her adaptation of A Christmas Carol, Dickens By Candelight, has been performed in Orlando and Germany since 1997.
Terry Olson as Mr. De Pinna
Orange County’s Arts & Cultural Affairs director since the office was created in 2001, Terry calls himself the county’s “chief arts instigator.” His early professional life was as a performer and co-founder of
Sak, which performed around the world at festivals and was in residence at Epcot for its first seven years. He has produced, directed and performed in his wife Robin’s Dickens by Candlelight many times since it began annual performances in 1997. He holds an M.A. in theatre from the University of Minnesota. He last performed in the pasture in Twelve Angry Men and more recently appeared as the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz at the Garden Theatre. He has a cousin who lost an eye to reckless fireworks fun – be careful!
Toby S. Pruett* as Boris Kolenkhov
Toby is thrilled to be joining Mad Cow Theatre. He grew up on-air at his grandfather’s radio station (WKZT). From there he moved to New York City where he studied at National Shakespeare Conservatory and began an acting career, which has included work on several world- and NYCpremiere plays, re-envisioned classics, four national tours with Biggs Rosati Productions, three seasons with the Eglevsky Ballet and working as an instructor for the National Shakespeare Conservatory. Since moving to Orlando he has appeared on the stages of Universal Orlando, Walt Disney World, Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s Playfest and Pirates Dinner Adventure, and he can still be seen regularly at Sleuths Mystery Dinner Shows. Recently he returned from Osaka, Japan, where he was a part of the opening cast of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Japan. Toby is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Society of American Fight Directors and a founding member of Random Magic Theater, Inc.
John Hamilton Rice as Henderson
John recently relocated from Indianapolis, where he appeared as John in Oleanna at Theatre Within, Dirty Jake in Golden Ticket Production’s original musical Tumbleweed, and Bill Lewis in The Hot L Baltimore at Epilogue Playhouse. Since coming to Orlando, John has been seen regularly at Ollivanders Wand Shop at Universal Studios. He is tremendously pleased to be making his third outing with Mad Cow Theatre, having read the part of Werner Heisenburg in Copenhagen for the second annual Science Play Festival and appeared in The Philadelphia Story.
Andrew Romano as Man 2
Andrew is a local actor who has worked in the Orlando area for the past two years. He began his craft studying at Class Act Studios under the direction of Lauren O’ Quinn. His most recent stage performances include The Foreigner at the University of Central Florida, and Fat Pig at Valencia College. He is finishing out his senior year at the University of Central Florida and will graduate with a degree in marketing and a minor in economics. This will be Andrew ’s first appearance on the Mad Cow stage.
Michael Sapp as Donald
This is Michael’s seventh show at Mad Cow Theatre. He was last seen as Kevin/Albert in Clybourne Park. Michael is grateful to be a part of this thrilling production. He would like to thank his fellow cast mates and Mad Cow for making this show possible.
Ron Schneider as Martin Vanderhof
Ron is a graduate of the Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy's School of Acting and Directing. He was featured in Mad Cow Theatre's May Fair Lady (Colonel
Pickering), Urinetown (Caldwell B. Cladwell), Sweeney Todd (Judge Turpin), She Loves Me (Maraczek), The Music Man (Mayor Shinn), Major Barbara (Andrew Undershaft), The Matchmaker (Horace Vandergelder) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Big Daddy). Ron has frequently appeared at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater and Mount Dora’s IceHouse Theatre and is the author of From Dreamer to Dreamfinder: A Life and Lessons Learned in 40 Years Behind a Name Tag. He dedicates this performance — and his life — to his fiancé, Jamie ... and their similarly madcap family!
Monica Long Tamborello as The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina
Monica is delighted to be performing for her first time with the Cows. Local acting credits include Little Women (Beth) with Orlando Repertory Theatre; and The Doctor in Spite of Himself (Geronte) and Love’s Labour’s Lost (Lady’s Maid/ Ensemble) with Orlando Shakespeare Theater. This Christmas, she will be performing for her seventh season in Dickens by Candlelight, Robin Olson’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Also a director, Monica’s credits include Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet and Twelfth Night (The Young Company/Orlando Shakespeare Theater); Number the Stars, A Little Princess (Young Actors Theatre); Pollyanna, Pinocchio, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Charlotte’s Web (International Community School); and A Short History of Nearly Everything for Mad Cow’s Science Play Festival.
Charlie Wright as Ed Carmichael
Charlie is just tickled to be part of his first show with Mad Cow. New to the city, he works as an actor for Universal Orlando and was part of PlayFest at Orlando Shakespeare Theater this past season. He graduated with his BFA from Shorter College in Rome, Georgia and has since had the good fortune to work for a number of lovely theatres including Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Children’s Theatre of Madison, and Door Shakespeare. He sends all of his love to his family and friends and all of his gratitude to the wonderful Mad Cow team, cast, crew and all for making him feel so welcome.
Direction by David Russell
Set Design by William Elliott
Lighting Design by Erin Miner
Costume Design by Charlie Nebe
Sound Design by Rudy Olin
Props by Lisa Buck
*Members of Actors' Equity Association