The Production Company

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]

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!).