File Photo

You may have noticed those bright orange signs proclaiming St. Joseph a 2008 Creative Community when you drive up and down Frederick Avenue.

Wanna know how it got that title? Do ya?

If you go check out any number of arts events this fall, you’ll see why. Whether it’s competing conductors, hit musicals, Midwest art or a Stephen King masterpiece being brought to the stage, there’s something anyone can appreciate this upcoming fall season besides leaves changing colors, Halloween and new episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy.”

PERFORMING ARTS ASSOCIATION

A few of the acts in the Performing Arts Association’s 2008-09 season at the Missouri Theater are performers that people may have caught here in the past.

Well, they’re not back because people hated them.

“They are back by popular demand,” says Mary Ingersoll, managing director of the Performing Arts Association.

The season opens with popular song interpreters Five By Design as they present “Stay Tuned,” which will take audiences back to the music of television’s early years on Sept. 12.

After viewers have spent months witnessing political theater for the upcoming presidential election, “The Capitol Steps” makes politics actual theater when they return with their comedy act on Oct. 12.

“They’re funny and they’re current. They’re topical,” Ingersoll says. “They’re a lot more popular in the election cycle, as you can imagine.”

And one month later, the kids will get a crack at the stage when Missoula Children’s Theater presents “Alice in Wonderland” on Nov. 1. Then, audiences can get patriotic with the Dallas Brass as they present “The American Musical Journey” showcasing everything from classical to swing on Nov. 14.

For information on PAA show times and tickets, call 279-1225 or go to www.saintjosephperformingarts.org.

ROBIDOUX RESIDENT THEATRE

St. Joseph’s community theater group’s fall shows will be familiar to audiences. RRT, on the other hand, will be trying these shows out for the first time.

RRT’s first two shows will mix works both musical and murderous. The murderous part comes from adapting Stephen King’s classic “Misery” to the stage Sept. 19 through 21 and Sept. 26 through 28 at the Robidoux Landing Playhouse, which RRT business manager Jeff Haney is anxious to produce.

“I think it’s exciting to bring Stephen King to the stage,” Haney says. “It’s certainly unusual.”

But come October, the group will tackle the smash Broadway musical “Grease” from Oct. 24 through 26 at the Missouri Theater. The only thing unusual about this popular musical is that RRT has never produced it before. Haney doesn’t actually know why that is, but he figures it would be a nice change to end up somewhere in St. Joe besides a high school stage.

“I think ‘Grease’ is a no-brainer,” Haney says. “I think in the hands of adults, it also lends itself well.”

After all, John Travolta wasn’t exactly a teenager when he played Danny Zuko.

For more information on RRT show tickets and times, call 232-1778 or go to www.rrtstjoe.org.

ALBRECHT-KEMPER MUSEUM OF ART

When fall rolls around, the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art will have a couple of exhibits to get art patrons in touch with the Midwest’s landscape from Sept. 13 through Nov. 9. “Prairie School: Robert Sudlow And His Students” will feature the impressionistic paintings of prolific Kansas artist Robert Sudlow, along with the works of 15 of his students who have studied under him over the years. The work of Kansas-based photographer Judith Sabatiani also will be on display with the exhibit “Judith Sabatiani: A Golden Day.”

For more information on exhibits, call 233-7003 or go to www.albrecht-kemper.org.

ST. JOSEPH COMMUNITY CHORUS

Audiences will get a chance to hear plenty of voices sing — and they won’t even have to wait until Christmas. The St. Joseph Community Chorus will kick off its 2008-09 season with “Songs of Hope and Healing” on Oct. 26 at Wyatt Park Baptist Church.

For more information, go to http://stjosephcommunitychorus.org/.

SAINT JOSEPH SYMPHONY

One of the Saint Joseph Symphony’s goals this season is to switch things up a little bit to keep symphony devotees intrigued while luring in a new audience. And this fall, more than just music will get people coming out to the first two Saint Joseph Symphony concerts.

The first concert, entitled “Of Magic and Myth,” will feature popular works by Mozart, Stravinsky and Chopin Sept. 27 at the Missouri Theater under the direction of Mark Allen McCoy. The second performance, “Around the World in 90 Minutes,” with works by American composers Leonard Bernstein and Howard Hanson and world-renowned Danish composer Jean Sibelius, will be performed at the Missouri Theater on Nov. 8 under the direction of Beverly Everett.

While the ears will be tuned in to the music, eyes will be fixed on the conductor’s stand for both performances.

McCoy and Everett are two of the three finalists for the symphony’s musical director position, and according to Derrick Hinds, the Saint Joseph Symphony’s executive director, audiences will have a say in who gets chosen.

“We’re going to include a thing in the program to comment on the conductors that they saw and let us know what they think,” Hinds says.

For more info on symphony concert tickets, times and conductors, call 233-7701 or go to www.saintjosephsymphony.org.

– Blake Hannon | Stjoelive staff