The Production Company

Last updated

The Production Company
Formation1999
TypeTheatre group
PurposeMusical Theatre
Location
Artistic director(s)
Ken Mackenzie-Forbes AM
Website www.theproductioncompany.com.au

The Production Company was an Australian not-for-profit theatre company that staged a series of usually three musicals at the Arts Centre Melbourne each year. [1]

Contents

It was launched in 1999 by Jeanne Pratt AC [2] with the goal of providing "professional opportunities for local artists and to entertain Melbourne audiences with the best shows from Broadway and beyond". [3] The company closed in 2020.

The Production Company specialised in revivals of popular and lesser known musicals with short (two week) rehearsal periods and short runs. [4] It also produced the Australian professional premieres of Thoroughly Modern Millie , Dirty Rotten Scoundrels , Grey Gardens , Nice Work If You Can Get It , Curtains, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder , Lazurus and Ragtime .

Its productions typically featured well-known Australian musical theatre performers such as Caroline O'Connor (Gypsy,Funny Girl), Michael Falzon (Chess), Marina Prior (Guys and Dolls, Kiss Me, Kate), Todd McKenney (The Boy from Oz, La Cage aux Folles), Lucy Durack (Kiss Me, Kate, Thoroughly Modern Millie), Christie Whelan Browne (The Producers, Sugar), Elise McCann (Brigadoon, Oklahoma) and Amanda Harrison (Anything Goes, Oklahoma!).

Seasons

The list of early productions can be found on the AusStage [5] database

Awards

Helpmann Awards

The Production Company's production of Grey Gardens was nominated for the 2012 Helpmann Award for Best Musical. [25] Performers and creatives who have won Helpmann Awards for their work with The Production Company include Pamela Rabe and Nancye Hayes for Grey Gardens (for Best Female Actor in a Musical and Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, respectively), and David Campbell for Sunset Boulevard (for Best Male Actor in a Musical).

Green Room Awards

The Production Company's production of Chess received the 2012 Melbourne Green Room Award for Outstanding Musical Production (as well as seven other awards). [26]

Related Research Articles

Martin Crewes is an Australian stage, television and movie actor.

Silvie Paladino is an Australian soprano, notable for her roles in musical theatre, as well as a concert performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Gleeson</span> Australian actor and singer

Simon Gleeson is an Australian actor and singer who is best known for playing Raoul in the 2011 Australian production of Love Never Dies and Jean Valjean in the 2014 Australian revival of Les Misérables, he reprised the role of Valjean in the 2016/17 cast of the West End production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Dallimore</span> Australian actress (born 1971)

Helen Dallimore is an Australian actress, known for originating the role of Glinda in the West End production of Wicked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd McKenney</span> Australian dancer and TV personality

Todd McKenney is an Australian dancer, theatre performer and TV personality. He is best known as a judge on Australian television talent show Dancing with the Stars.

James Millar is an Australian actor, singer and writer. He wrote the musical drama The Hatpin, the song cycle LOVEBiTES and co-wrote the semi-autobiographical musical A Little Touch of Chaos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline O'Connor (actress)</span> Australian actress and singer (born 1962)

Caroline Ann O'Connor is an Anglo-Australian singer, dancer, and actress. For her theatre work she has won three Helpmann Awards: Best Female Actor in a Play for Edith Piaf in Piaf in 2001 and the same category for Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow in 2006, and Best Female Actor in a Musical for Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes in 2015.

Brian Thomson is an Australian theatre, opera and film designer. He has been active in Australian stage design since the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Harrison</span> Australian actress and singer

Amanda Harrison is an Australian actress and singer, known for her roles in Wicked (Elphaba), We Will Rock You, and for originating the role of Paula Pokrifki in the world premiere of An Officer and a Gentleman. She has performed in cabaret several times, including her current production Up Close and Reasonably Personal which she is expected to perform at Melbourne Cabaret Festival in June 2014 and recently David Harris, Michael Ball, Lea Salonga and Marie Zamora for Enda Markey Presents Do You Hear The People Sing at Shanghai Grand Theatre. She voiced characters for Get Ace an animation series released in January 2014. She appeared with Mig Ayesa, Michael Falzon and Carly Thomas-Smith for three performances of The Music of Queen - Rock and Symphonic Spectacular. The concert series began on 7 February 2014, at Sydney Opera House supported by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra before three performances in Perth, Western Australia between 13–15 February.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Durack</span> Australian actress (born 1982)

Lucy Durack is an Australian actress, singer and television personality who played Glinda in the Australian production of Wicked, and Elle Woods in the Australian production of Legally Blonde: The Musical. She starred as Tugger in Australian television drama Doctor Doctor in 2016 and as Roxy Karibas in Sisters in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jill Perryman</span> Australian actress (born 1933)

Jill Perryman is an Australian multi-award winning retired stage and screen actress and singer, with a career that spanned 70 years. Perryman is from a family of show business performers; her sister was actress Diana Perryman and her son is media personality, radio and TV presenter and musician Tod Johnston.

Annette Gale Edwards is an Australian theatre director, who has worked extensively throughout Australia and internationally. She has also directed for television and film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christie Whelan Browne</span> Australian actress

Christine Whelan Browne is an Australian performer who has worked extensively in musical theatre as an actress, dancer and singer. She has also appeared on television shows and in films. In March 2012, she married fellow performer, Rohan Browne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Harris (Australian actor)</span> Australian Broadway actor and singer (born 9 August 1975)

David Harris is an Australian actor and singer. In Australia, he is best known for his performances as Chris in Miss Saigon, Fiyero in Wicked and Emmett in Legally Blonde having received Helpmann Award nominations for all three leading roles. Harris also starred as the Baker in Victorian Opera's production of Into the Woods and, in America, as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables opposite Terrence Mann in 2015. He has released two solo albums. Since early 2023, he has played the role of The Duke of Monroth in the Broadway theater production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

<i>An Officer and a Gentleman</i> (musical)

An Officer and a Gentleman, The Musical is a stage musical based on the 1982 film of the same name, written by Douglas Day Stewart. It had its world premiere May 18, 2012 at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, Australia. The musical closed six weeks later on July 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Maunder</span> Australian cabaret and theatre performer

Lucy Maunder is an Australian cabaret and theatre performer. She originated the role of Lara in the Australian premiere of Doctor Zhivago opposite Anthony Warlow, and has toured with her own cabaret Songs in the Key of Black, releasing an album with the same name. Maunder toured with the national touring company of Grease playing the role of Rizzo. She then starred in the role of Miss Honey in the Australian tour of Matilda the Musical, replacing Elise McCann. In 2021-22, Maunder starred as the adult Alison Bechdel in the Sydney Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company's co-production of Fun Home.

John Sheedy is an Australian theatre director.

Bert La Bonté is an Australian actor.

Amy Lehpamer is an Australian musical theatre performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Rathgeber</span> Australian actor and singer

Alex Rathgeber is an Australian actor and singer, perhaps best known for his Helpmann Award-winning performance as Billy Crocker in Anything Goes. More recently he appeared as the Tin Man in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Wizard of Oz.

References

  1. ↑ "Welcome". The Age. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  2. ↑ "The Production Company Celebrates 10th Anniversary". Australian Stage. 6 March 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Welcome". The Production Company. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  4. 1 2 Graham Ford. "Crazy For you". Stage Whisper. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "The Production Company" . Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "Production Company Announces 2007 Season". 16 April 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  7. ↑ Michael Finn (18 July 2008). "Follies The Production Company". Australian Stage. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  8. ↑ Vito Mattarelli (21 August 2008). "Damn Yankees The Production Company". Australian Stage. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  9. ↑ Melita Pereira (3 October 2008). "Mame The Production Company". Australian Stage. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels". Stage Whispers. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  11. ↑ Darryl Emmerson (13 August 2009). "The Boyfriend The Production Company". Australian Stage. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  12. ↑ Simon Parris (18 May 2010). "TPC Expands King & I to Two Week Season". Theatre People. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  13. ↑ Simon Parris (8 August 2010). "Boy From Oz". Theatre People. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  14. ↑ Simon Parris (30 September 2010). "Sugar". Theatre People. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  15. ↑ Simon Parris (9 December 2010). "Boy Bonanza". Theatre People. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  16. ↑ Simon Parris (21 July 2011). "Anything Goes". Theatre People. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  17. ↑ Simon Parris (18 August 2011). "Kismet". Theatre People. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  18. ↑ Simon Parris (24 November 2011). "Grey Gardens". Theatre People. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  19. ↑ K.E. Weber (5 July 2012). "Brent Hill - The Producers - Its Good To be The King". Theatre People. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  20. ↑ Michelle Pountney (13 August 2012). "Players back in the game". Herald Sun. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  21. ↑ Simon Parris (4 October 2012). "Promises Promises". Theatre People. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  22. ↑ "The Production Company Announces Season 2013". Stage Whispers. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  23. ↑ "The Production Company celebrates 20 years of delivering musicals to Melbourne". 12 May 2018.
  24. ↑ "The Production Company Launches 2019 Season with a Bowie exclusive". noise11.com. 19 February 2019.
  25. ↑ "2012 Helpmann Award Winners Announced". Stage Whispers. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  26. ↑ "2012 Green Room Awards Recipients". Australian Stage Online. 6 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.