That's Entertainment: From her theater school to her theatrical ideas to her dinner theater, all the world's a stage for Columbia's Toby Orenstein.

That's Entertainment: From her theater school to her theatrical ideas. to her dinner theater, all the world's a stage for Columbia's Toby Orenstein.

LISA S. GOLDBERG STAFF REPORTER

When Toby Orenstein says, "The cow came to me," she is not -- repeat, not -- embarking on a discussion of the dairy industry.

Rather, when the Columbia resident borrows that line -- which, in the musical "Gypsy" describes the inspiration behind a new song and dance act involving a cow -- she is talking about the ideas that led to each of her theatrical endeavors.

"So the cow came to me and I had what seemed like a great idea," the bespectacled Mrs. Orenstein was saying in the dimly lit stage area of the 15-year-old Columbia dinner theater bearing her first name. "Why don't we do a musical review that traces America's history through its song and dance?"

She was discussing a performance at the 1975 Irish American Festival, for which she and her theater students were asked to provide an American history presentation. Their song and dance review was so successful that it led to the creation of the Young Columbians, a troupe composed of Mrs. Orenstein's theater school students that traveled the country for five years, even stopping at the White House.

The cow, it seems, has come to Mrs. Orenstein a number of times throughout her 57 years. And today, on the local theater scene, the director, teacher and idea woman is a known commodity.

"I have the highest regard for her work and hers is certainly the premier dinner theater in Baltimore," said Michael Decker, artistic producer of the Maryland Arts Festival. "She has a reputation for doing first-class work always."

"When you work with Toby, you know you've worked with the best," said Shannon Wollman, who once worked...