Page 2 - Mitzi Maxwell News Today

Orlando Shakes’ high-profile production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Lake Eola Park is more than the theater’s first in-person show in over a year: It’s the first Orlando-area play to be approved by Actors’ Equity Association, or AEA, the New York-based union for professional performers and stage managers. That puts Orlando Shakes at the forefront of bringing professional actors back to work.

One year after COVID-19 brought live entertainment to a screeching halt, Central Florida arts and entertainment leaders are looking forward to better days. But, they say, there’s no going back — and the local performing-arts scene has been forever changed.

Orlando arts groups got a late Christmas gift when shortly after the holiday President Donald Trump extended the CARES Act spending deadline. Trying to plan — and complete — a potential $5 million worth of COVID-related projects by the original Dec. 30 deadline had groups scrambling. But with the extension until the end of 2021, there’s now time to determine the best long-term use of the federal money.

Mad Cow Theatre is busy “Bringing Home the Herd,” as its new online series is titled. The subtitle gives a clue to the variety of entertainment offered: “Cabarets, comedies and captivating tales.”