Elise Maurine Milner, founder/playwright/producer/director… has now written 17 plays and musicals and has produced and directed each and every one of them, totaling over 350 theatrical performances from coast to coast! She has also been called “the NEW Neil LaBute!” She is currently licensing her shows to theaters and entertainment venues for national and international productions while she currently continues to write/produce NEW and original works for theatre, film, and television. She strives to create material that will be both thought provoking, entertaining, and always with a deeper meaningful life message, whether through comedy or serious subject matter.
ELISE MAURINE MILNER, CEO/Founder of Hanging Cow Productions is first a writer, then a producer & a director, occasionally an actress, but always pursuing her dreams! She began her humble creative endeavors in the small town of Virginia City in rural Nevada with a population of just 600 people! After conquering local community, high school theater production, Elise at 17 years old left Nevada & went on to study writing, acting, theatre/TV production, and broadcasting for 3 years in San Francisco and for 5 years in Los Angeles. She has worked diligently and ambitiously in every aspect of the entertainment industry from performing on stage & in television and film, to being a disc jockey and news producer for KGLE Radio (West Coast) and even helped launch and develop a television pilot for Universal Studios, Hollywood. When she came to New York City in 1999, similarly to Madonna, (knowing no one here with big dreams, and just 22 cents in the bank) Elise was culture shocked and quickly realized she had to create her own opportunities from the ground up if she were going to take a bite out of the Big Apple! She was cast as a repertory member in a small theater company where she helped develop and performed original works on stage – all while watching and learning the ropes of how a boutique production company operated. Sadly that company folded a year later, but she began to piece together how she could start her own company bigger and better! She began writing & producing her own work full time under Hanging Cow Productions. (The company name she formed in High School from both a type-o and in honor of Elise’s love for horses and livestock, having grown up as an avid 4-H er!)
Elise’s early Off Broadway regional shows were a mix of several audience interactive, parody comedies including “Who Killed Mama Souprano?” “My Big Fat GEEK Wedding!” “The Agagamy Award Show,” and “Greased Lightning, A Comedy High School Reunion!” Since then she has been more focused on traditional, thought provoking dramatic works. To date, Elise has written 16 full scale plays and musicals, all of which she single-handedly successfully produced on Off Broadway stages in New York City and beyond! Those titles include “The Sixth Session,” “The Accidental Awakening,” “An Awkward Inheritance,” “An Arrangement of Euphoric Illusions,” “Ascension Underground,” “All Because of Infidelity,” “12 Steps the Musical!” and “The Answers to Apathy,” which received critical acclaim from Broadway producer Hugh Hayes who called Elise “the real deal” and compared her to esteemed playwright Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart.) Although Elise has also been compared to Neil Labute for tackling social taboos and creating raw and edgy dialogue, she considers her work her own unique style and often writes predominantly uncensored characters grappling with their flaws and mortality often from a spiritual perspective.
Elise has now produced and directed over 350 theatrical performances coast to coast,
including a very special theatrical debut performance in 2021 in her hometown of Virginia City, Nevada! “An Awkward Inheritance,” (a play AND a future television comedy about northern Nevada) marked her first show back (post-pandemic) in a 200 year old opera house!
Elise is currently licensing her shows to national and international theaters and entertainment venues while she currently continues to write NEW and original works for theatre, film, and television. Elise’s brand new play for 2023 to debut this fall, (“All We Really Know is That We Exist”) will be her 17th produced script. Elise is completely SELF made, most every production she has produced has come from creating her own opportunities through her own fundraising. She is also the founder and creator of the Backdoor to Broadway Boot camp Beginner Producer’s Workshop, where she teaches her production skills to budding producers. From rags to ramen and to one day riches, Elise is a true inspiration and community teacher and business leader whose passion and drive is unmatched by most, yet she is humbled and SO grateful for every step and every person she has encountered along the way to help make her art a success. Though she is already living her dreams, her final goal in the works…. to conquer Broadway and television!
In her spare time, Elise enjoys and rides her horse “One Tall Sully” which she keeps in the Hudson Valley. She frequently travels abroad regularly with her hubby & BFF Suzanne Lynn, & she is a pre-bronze ice dancing partner in training with her gold medalist ice dance coach. Elise couldn’t do what she does without her loyal team below… the phenomenal artists that make up this company are highly regarded and deeply appreciated for all the talent they bring to our productions…
ELISA RENEE BOLDIZAR, CFO, is our Sr. Executive responsible for managing finances and marketing for Hanging Cow. Her emphasis is on economic strategies and forecasting while ensuring limited liability for the company. Elisha has a knack for keeping her finger on the pulse. California native, born and raised in the Los Angeles area, Elisa currently maintains residency in California with frequent commutes to New York during live productions. Elise and Elisa met in 1998, while both attending college in Los Angeles and have remained friends, business associates and partners (in crime!) ever since. Elisha has been involved in managing and investing in Real Estate for more than 18 years. Her hobbies include, concerts, daily romps at the beach with loyal companion and dog, “Mr. Wilson”, cooking for family and friends, skiing, and boating.
Christopher Berlino (photographer, and sound/lighting tech) is originally a Studio Art major in college on Long Island where he was raised, his artistic expertise at the time was painting and sculpture. In 2001, he took a serious interest in photography and avidly began his photography business. Chris photographs everything and everyone in the NYC-tri state area and beyond in all areas of digital photography from glamour, weddings, red carpet/VIP events, acting/modeling portfolios, and travel and photo journalism. Chris is thrilled to be working with his talented wife Elise as in house tech and has taken on a true love for the theater since working with his wife full time since 2019. He and Elise have traveled the world from Europe to Australia honing his craft as a photographer and an artist. He LOVES what he does and he is excited to work on this project with his soulmate and best friend, this cast, and his dear friends behind the scenes! In his spare time he enjoys horseback riding, roller skating, long walks on the beach, dog walks, cat walks, and Chinese woks! Here is to living life fully! Click here to view his website!
SUZANNE LYNN, head production assistant and set designer has known Elise longer than just about anyone! Suzanne and Elise were childhood best friends and met in 1982! Now in 2023, they have finally fused their creative expertise to form a theatrical team for the Hanging Cow 2023/2024 season! Suzanne, based in Reno, Nevada, is a full time artist who creates sculptures, signs, plaques, personalized keepsakes, and her own line of body care! Suzanne has been so happy to revive her love and expertise in theater! Production credits include the Nevada production of “An Awkward Inheritance” (2022) the New York production of “Angels Among Us,” (2022) and the NYC production of “All Because of Infidelity.” She is looking forward to all future New York productions!
Tori Kraese, (stage manager and assistant director) is an aspiring off-broadway producer who is finally reuniting with the theatre world after being derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. She graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 2020 with degrees in Producing & Management, Psychology, and Business Management. Outside of Hanging Cow Productions, she works for a high end interior design firm by day and front of house at New York Theatre Workshop by night. Production credits include “Good News” (2020) at the Theresa Lang Theatre and “The Birds and the BS with Jordan Roth” web series (2018-2019). Tori is so excited to be a permanent part of HCP fam!
ROBERT MARK, company member and assistant director, has a degree in the performing arts and started his acting career in 1997 with musicals Bye Bye Birdie, Fiddler on the Roof, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum, Best Little Whore House in Texas, and Damn Yankees. Robert was also cast in Can’noli Happen and the documentary Pleasant Days (An East Harlem Story) as a producer. Robert also starred in the Guido Monologues which had a tremendous off Broadway run and the originally written show The Smoking Section. Robert has performed in “12 Steps the Musical,” “The Sixth Session,” “An Awkward Inheritance,” “The Accidental Awakening” and “Who Killed Mama Souprano?!” all previous Hanging Cow, hit shows! Robert has had a long standing friendship with Elise Milner. Robert would like to thank Hanging Cow, his family, friends, and beautiful wife Kimberly for their support in Living his Dream!!!