Todd McKenney and Christie Whelan are among the new stars announced for The Production Company's 2011 Season.

Melbourne’s unique musical theatre company, The Production Company, has  announced the casts for its 2011 Season - three contrasting Broadway musicals from three very different eras - Anything Goes, Kismet and the Australian premiere season of Grey Gardens.

Opening the season on July 20 is Cole Porter’s 1934 Anything Goes. The stellar cast for this show is Amanda Harrison (Wicked) as Reno, Alex Rathgeber (The Boy Friend) as Billy Crocker, Todd McKenney (The Boy From Oz) as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, Christie Whelan (Xanadu, Sugar) as Erma, Wayne Scott Kermond (Singin’ in the Rain, Candy Man) as Moonface Martin, Christy Sullivan (Next To Normal) as Hope Harcourt, Anne Wood (Mamma Mia!) and John O’May (Phantom of the Opera) as Elisha Whitney.

This  production will be directed by musical theatre wunderkind, Andrew Hallsworth and Dean Bryant (Next to Normal) and the musical director is Maestro Peter Casey. Anything Goes is at the State Theatre from July 20 to 24.

Artistic Director, Ken Mackenzie-Forbes said ‘We are thrilled to announce this brilliant line upof stars for our three shows, which are Cole Porter’s most popular musical, Anything Goes, the romantic and enchanting, Kismet and the bizarre and irresistible Grey Gardens. With these three very different musicals we have an extraordinary range of talent to showcase. Subscribers to The Production Company are assured of a wonderful season of musical entertainment.’

Two brilliant comedians are announced for Kismet. They are Mitchell Butel (The Mikado, Sugar) as The Wazir and Helen Dallimore (Wicked London and Spring Awakening) as Lalume. They join opera stars José Carbó (The Barber of Seville, La Boheme), Janet Todd (The Magic Flute) as Marsinah and Josh Piterman (West Side Story) as Caliph.

Terence O’Connell directs this new production with Peter Casey as musical director, and  choreography by Alana Scanlan.

Kismet will play August 17 to 21 in the State Theatre.

Kismet, with a score based on the music of Alexander Borodin, opened on Broadway in 1953, and has been the musical most requested by The Production Company’s subscribers over the past four years.

For the Australian premiere season of the musical Grey Gardens, AFI Award Winner, Pamela Rabe returns to the company to perform the virtuoso roles of Edith Bouvier Beale and ‘Little’ Edie. Helpmann Award Winner, Nancye Hayes plays the role of the aged Edith. New cast announced now includes James Millar (Oklahoma!, author of The Hatpin) as George Gould Strong and John O’May as Norman Vincent Peale in this Tony Award winning musical.

Roger Hodgman directs this new production, which will be in the Arts Centre’s Playhouse.

Kellie Dickerson (Wicked, Doctor Zhivago) is musical director.

Grey Gardens opened on Broadway in 2006 and was named by Time Magazine as the Number One show of 2006. It was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 2007, winning three.

Grey Gardens tells story of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, ‘Little’ Edie, the delightfully eccentric aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Once among the brightest names in the pre-Camelot social register, these two women became East Hampton’s most notorious recluses, living in a dilapidated 28-room mansion. Set in two eras – in 1941 when the estate was in its prime and early in 1973 when it was reduced to squalor – the musical tells the alternately glorious and heartbreaking story of two indomitable women.

Based on the 1975 documentary of the same title by Albert and David Maysles, Grey Gardens has a cult following.

Season Details

Anything Goes– State Theatre, the Arts Centre – July 20 – 24.

Kismet - State Theatre, the Arts Centre – Aug 17 – 21.

Grey Gardens– The Playhouse, the Arts Centre – Nov 24 – 27

More Details

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