m.a.d. Theatre of Tampa's THE MOST FABULOUS STORY EVER TOLD to Open 6/6

Today, m.a.d. Theatre of Tampa has announced the opening of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told on Friday, June 6, 2014. The show runs through June 22, 2014 with performances on Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm & Sunday at 3:00pm. This satirical comedy by Paul Rudnick, author of I Hate Hamlet and Jeffrey, is raucously funny, surprisingly tender and ultimately wise as it dissects history, relationships, gay politics and the mystery of faith. Director Clareann Despain has gathered a diverse cast of actors to guide the audience through the lives of the two first couples, Adam & Steve and Jane & Mabel, as they experience life's joys and perils from the biblical world to the modern day.

Ben Brantley, when reviewing The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told in The New York Times, wrote that "Line by line, Mr. Rudnick may be the funniest writer for the stage in the United States today." Mr. Rudnick's inspiration for this play comes from a 1977 Houston rally protest sign that said "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve". Jerry Falwell gave the phrase wider circulation in Christianity Today in 1979. In Rudnick's take on the Bible, God makes Adam and Steve, along with the first lesbians, Jane and Mabel. Although religious groups have protested the play, it had a commercial run in 1998 Off-Broadway where The New York Daily News said, "You will find yourself laughing uncontrollable throughout the evening."

m.a.d Theatre of Tampa, resident theatre company at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center of the Performing Arts, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Our volunteer-based Board of Directors welcomes newcomers in all areas of performance. Our goal is to produce shows that make you laugh and think, while honoring diversity in our shows by inviting the culturally expanding community to celebrate their talent on the stage or to be a member of the audience. As a non-equity theatre company, our performers volunteer countless hours rehearsing and preparing our productions. Recent successes include award-winning productions of bare: A Pop Opera, Nunsense A-Men!, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and the sold-out run of Avenue Q: The Musical.