The Production Company will deliver its 50th show this season and Saturday night saw a spectacular launch of the 2016 season with ‘Funny Girl’. More on that in a moment.
As The Production Company turns 50 it should be firstly noted that Jeanne Pratt, Ken Mackenzie-Forbes and Rachel Taylor have created a truly unique and exception theatre company for the city of Melbourne. Every show is exceptional and affordable family entertainment. That in itself in is extremely hard to achieve and to that they excel.
When you think of great theatre around the world you think of New York, London, Chicago, Toronto and Melbourne. Melbourne has an entertainment culture not found anywhere else in Australia and part of reason is that The Production Company exists.
Melbourne has played host to some of the greatest theatre productions in the world. Some of those big shows can cost over $20 million to put on before opening night. The Production Company delivers the highest quality productions with some of the world’s best actors and singers rivalling the massive big-budget events. What Jeanne, Ken and Rachel have done for live entertainment in Melbourne is a gift to the city.
Now ‘Funny Girl’. This show is a Production Company highlight boasting an amazing cast. Caroline O’Connor literally comes direct from Broadway just for this production. Caroline stars as Fanny Brice, the character made famous by Streisand in the movie all those years ago. David Hobson wears a big hat too. He is the Nicky Arnstein character, played by Omar Sharif in the movie. One of Australia’s most loved and most accomplished actors Nancye Hayes is Mrs Brice.
‘Funny Girl’ is one of the world’s great musicals. Streisand made it one of the world’s great movies so to even try and recreate this masterpiece is an incredible chore to undertake.
The Production Company never tries to outdo. It always aims to honour and with ‘Funny Girl’ The Production Company has delivered one of its most entertaining shows to date.
Visually the costumes are stunning. These shows are not designed for years on end. ‘Funny Girl’ will be performed for just 10 shows, it finishes this Sunday, but the attention to detail in what goes into a Production Company show is the same as if they were planning an extended season.
The movie showcased the voice of Barbra Streisand. That’s a tough call for Caroline, but each song in this show is its own star, especially the two showstoppers ‘People’ and ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’.
Tickets to the final performances for ‘Funny Girl’ are still available for those who haven’t planned ahead.
For those who have then ‘Curtains’ starring Simon Gleeson is next for 10 performances from 20 August and then the season will conclude with John-Michael Howson’s amazing tale of Dusty Springfield ‘Dusty’ starring Any Lehpamer and Todd McKenney for 17 performances from November 12.
Melbourne the footy capital of Australia? yeah right. When you grow out of that, get some culture.
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