Beginning this weekend, Cain Center for the Arts and Davidson Community Players will present “Million Dollar Quartet” Aug. 8-23, marking the first time the two Lake Norman arts organizations have co-produced a show.

The production dramatizes the Dec. 4, 1956, recording session at Sun Records in Memphis, where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis gathered for an impromptu jam session. It features more than 20 songs, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Great Balls of Fire” and “Hound Dog.”

During its run on Broadway, “Million Dollar Quartet” earned three Tony Award nominations in 2010, including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.

Justin Dionne, Cain Center’s executive director, said the partnership grew out of a relationship that had been building for several years. Davidson Community Players, a community theater founded in 1965, had already been renting Cain Center’s stage for productions including “Frozen Jr.,” but this marks the first time the two organizations have shared financial risk and creative control.

Steve Kaliski, DCP’s executive director, said the collaboration solves a persistent challenge for touring or short-run productions: limited time. Typically, DCP might have as little as three days for technical rehearsals before opening a show for a brief run.

The co-production allows the show to run for two and a half weeks, closer to a professional theater model that lets word of mouth build an audience over time.

“That is always a goal that it’s hard for us” to reach otherwise, Kaliski said, noting the arrangement also allows for a more ambitious set design than either organization typically manages on its own.

“We’re pooling resources here,” Dionne said. “We can really design to the best possible caliber. Whatever ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ is written to be, we can do that. We don’t have to compromise.”

Dionne said he had wanted to bring “Million Dollar Quartet” to the area for years, describing it as a natural fit for the Lake Norman audience because of its broad appeal across age groups.

Kaliski added that the show’s structure as a “jukebox musical” — built around existing songs audiences already know rather than an original score — made it a fitting first project, blending DCP’s theatrical storytelling with Cain Center’s track record of hosting music and tribute acts.

The production features Eli Fischer as Elvis Presley, Ian Benjamin as Jerry Lee Lewis, Connor Nielsen as Johnny Cash and Matty Montes as Carl Perkins.

Dionne said the cast was drawn from talent native to North Carolina. Much of the production crew calls the Lake Norman area home.

Both leaders described the show as a test case for a broader vision: strengthening the region’s professional theater and arts ecosystem so local talent has more reason to stay or return rather than leave for larger markets.

Dionne noted Charlotte currently has no professional theater company, unlike its professional symphony, ballet and opera, and said he and Kaliski have discussed whether their organizations could eventually help fill that gap.

“What if we were able to make that happen?” Dionne said. “Steve and I are big dreamers. This show is testing out the market to find out if this community would like more of this.”

Performances run Wednesdays through Sundays, with evening performances at 7:30 p.m. and matinees at 3 p.m., including two performances Aug. 22. Tickets, priced from about $40 to $60, are available through Cain Center’s website.