Fall Arts 2008 / Theater or Theatre? Though the words are interchangeable, it’s all in the enunciation. And you can easily set one person headed to the next strip club or Saw film franchise, depending on how far into the extreme you take the accent. Fortunately, this season has highbrow and lowbrow, country music to opera, kids in strife and others who refuse to grow up. Wherever your tastes lies, there’s something for you. Make sure you make plans to see what interests you now, because you know in December, we’ll all be forced to see The Nutcracker. Again.

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Hawai’i Opera Theatre

What’s playing: The Opera Ball

You’re going to have to wait until January for the grand opera season to begin, but a touch of grandeur will come your way sooner when HOT presents its annual fundraiser. This year’s theme is “The Great Escape” (Steve McQueen did opera? Now that’s a wallop!) at the Sheraton Waikk on Nov. 8. Ticket prices are, well, pricey, but it’s all for a good cause. Individual tickets run $350 a pop and reserving a whole table will set you back $3,500–$15,000, not including tie and tails.

Coming up: Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, and Bizet’s Carmen, all of which will be at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall.

[hawaiiopera.org], 596-7372

Hawai’i Repertory Theatre

What’s playing: The Eight: Reindeer Monologues

When sweet old Santa cries “Ho, ho, ho!,” could he really be Imus with a beard? What would happen if Rudolph accused the red-suited old bugger of sexual harassment? And what’s the scoop on that vixen Vixen? Front page news, for sure. Not just front page but back stage when the Hawai’i Repertory Theatre puts on six performances of this dark comedy Fri–Sun, Dec. 19–28. In this work, Chicago playwright Jeff Goode goes all Jerry Springer-ish, giving us the dirt on life in the fast lane at the North Pole. Actors, dressed as reindeer, deliver Rashomon-style monologues about the Claus celbre. Catch the show at the Rep’s Kawananakoa Backstage Theatre.

Coming up: In the Spring, a new work by Paul T. Mitri and company called Hamlet/Ophelia.

$15-$25, [hawaiireptheatre.org], 545-7170

Honolulu Theatre for Youth

What’s playing: Aladdin’s Luck

Scheherazade told 999 other stories to King Shahryar but this one has remained the most popular. Plucky (and lucky) Aladdin makes his move from the streets to the elites when he finds a magic lamp and the powerful genie inside it. Add in flying carpets, a beautiful princess, and magical music by composer Fahir Atakoglu, and you’ve got a theatrical treat for kiddies ages 4 and older. Aladdin’s Luck plays Saturdays until Sept. 27 at Tenney Theatre.

Coming up: In mid-October, HTY presents Shakey Bill’s best comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in a special one-hour version filled with young lovers, impish faeries, and rude mechanicals.

$8-$16, [htyweb.org], 839-9885

Kennedy Theatre

What’s playing: The Little Snow Fox And Other Tales of the North Pacific

From the same folks who brought you Kraken-ka the Komodo Dragon and Other Pacific Rim Dragon Tales come tales of a cooler clime, just right for kids ages 3–8. As with Kraken-ka, UH student playwright Kemuel DeMoville has reworked the children’s book by authors Jodi Parry Belknap and Tamara Montgomery into three stories complete with puppets, dancing and special effects. Directed by Montgomery. Opens Oct. 3.

Coming up: The Scottish Play–of course, that’s not the real title, but theatrical lore holds that it’s bad luck to say the name out loud. Let’s just say the play is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, filled with witches, an ambitious nobleman, his manipulative wife and lots of skullduggery at the crossroads. Oh, hell, it’s Macbeth. Opening mid-November.

$3-$13, [etickethawaii.com], 956-7655,

Earle Ernst Lab Theatre

What’s playing: Stop the Clocks: Two Original Plays

The Earle Ernst Lab theatre is the goth little sister of the UH–Manoa/Kennedy Theatre mainstage. Dressed in black, changing appearances on a whim, piercings just about everywhere you look, it’s one of the few places left for avant-garde theater in Honolulu. This year, quite a few of the shows are homegrown works by student playwrights. For four evenings billed, “Stop the Clocks,” the lab debuts two new plays by Brad Larson: Hypegiaphobia’s Contribution to Mental Hygiene and Lost in a Day. These shows are part of the Lab’s Late Night series (we’re talking mostly 11pm performances, folks), so pop a Red Bull on the way there. Opens Sept. 13.

Coming up: Other stuff arriving soon at the Lab’s prime time and Late Night slots include Fall Footholds (dance) plus more new plays: What! by Rikki Jo Hickey (on the same playbill as an Ionesco, no less!) and A Snow Day by puppeteer Kat Pleviak.

$4-$10, [hawaii.edu], 956-7655

Kumu Kahua Theatre

What’s playing: Da Mayah

Lee Cataluna’s loony catalogue of Hilo’s hooligans and misfits is in office for its second term, running now until Sept. 28. Cataluna scored a big hit with this one back in 1998 and those sold out shows and rave reviews have brought Da Mayah back for an election year revival. The story remains the same: Newly elected Hilo mayor Lester Perez ain’t the smartest macadamia in the can, but his administrative assistant (and mistress) Sandralene Leialoha Ferreira is always there to save him. When Perez gets blackmailed by an old school friend, the poi thickens.

Coming up: Local poet R. Zamora Linmark debuts his new play, Rolling the R’s, about self-identity and teen angst in 1970s Kalihi. Opening late October.

$10-$16, [kumukahua.org], 536-4441

Palik Theatre

What’s playing: Miss Saigon

Oh, yes, the heat is on this fall as the Schonberg-Boublil-Maltby blockbuster sets down on the Windward Community College’s Palik stage. It’s a retelling of Puccini’s classic Madama Butterfly but set in 1970s Vietnam, right before the fall of Saigon. Directed by that perennial maestro of musicals, Ron Bright, the show features local talent with Broadway creds (Jade Stice, Michael Scott Bright) as well as newcomer Brittany Browning in the leading role of Kim, the teenage bar girl who falls in love with an American serviceman. Opens Oct. 3.

Coming up: Nothing on the docket as yet.

$20-$30, [etickethawaii.com], 235-7330

Laughtrack Theater

What’s playing: Improv

“Long form” improv now has a home of its own here in Honolulu, right across from the Hawaii Theatre (1123 Bethel). Using suggestions from the audience, improv actors create a whole scenario using just their bodies, voices, and some very quick wits. It’s like seeing a one-act play materialize before your eyes every performance (and it’s different each time). Shows are Fri & Sat, 8 & 10pm. The schedule for the next few weeks features a number of different local troupes, including First Class, Casual Threat, Initiative, In Your Face Improv (IYFI) as well as improv veterans, Loose Screws. Check online for the lineup.

Coming up: Lots more improv, of course. Laughtrack Theater will also be one of the host venues for Improvaganza!, the third annual improv festival arriving Sept. 25-27.

$8-$10, [laughtracktheater.com], 384-3362

Army Community Theatre

What’s playing: Oliver!

‘Ow many times ‘ave you seen it? The all-American Army version may sound a little different–director Stephanie Conching decided to forego the Cockney accents. Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond from Lost) has bragging rights to 10-year-old son Lucas in the title role. The little dickens has one of those angelic–and authentic–voices that you can’t help but like. The show runs Fri & and Sat through Sept. 20.

Coming up: You asked for it (or somebody did): High School Musical, the Disney channel phenomenon, opening Nov. 20. See what all the fuss is about.

$12-$20, [armytheatre.com], 438-4480 or 438-5230

The Actors’ Group

What’s playing: The History Boys

This Alan Bennett play has won more awards than you have fingers: Oliviers, Drama Desks, Tonys, Evening Standards, Critics’ Circles. For its Hawai’i premiere, director Brad Powell might just garner some Po’okelas. Playing Oct. 3–26, the comedy/drama offers a glimpse of unruly, funny British sixth-form (senior) boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a university spot while their teachers and conventional headmaster aim to educate. Ah, education. Could you define that please?

Coming up: The world premiere of Ring of Fire by Nancy Moss tells the story of a married couple–he an Iraq war vet who’s acting strange, she a confused wife with an attractive Kung Fu teacher. Opens Dec. 5.

$12-$16, [taghawaii.net], 722-6941

Diamond Head Theatre

What’s playing: Les Misérables

“Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men?” Angry, lonely, heartbroken, destitute. Miserable. Imagine deciding to write a musical about them. Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil did, basing it on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel about the plight of the French lower class in the early 19th century. As you know–unless you’re not from, say, Earth–it’s pretty popular. A couple of O’ahu high schools have mounted the slightly abridged student version; DHT presents the Hawai’i premiere of the full show. Directed by Peter Lockyer and his wife: local-girl-turned-Broadway-star Melanie Tojio Lockyer. Runs Sept. 26 through Oct. 19.

Coming up: Do you believe in fairies? You bet your Peter Pan you do and he’s flying in Dec. 5 to remind you.

$12–$42, [diamondheadtheatre.com], 733-0274

Hawai’i Pacific University’s Paul and Vi Loo Theatre

What’s playing: Rabbit Hole

Easily identifiable, laugh-out-loud dialogue and a little angst. Despite the fact that it’s about a couple whose 4-year-old boy was killed by a teenage driver, this 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner by David Lindsay-Abaire is not a downer. If you like modern realistic dramas, well drawn-out characters, telling–often humorous–examinations of the human spirit and the many ways we deal with grief then this is for you. But you have to wait until Nov. 7. Runs through Dec. 7.

Coming up: Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie in the spring. For those that revere the classics–and the not yet initiated–HPU is at your service.

$3-$20, [hpu.edu], 375-1282

Leeward Community College

What’s playing: Lakota Sioux Dance Theatre

Always eager to share their stories through song and dance, splendid costumes and feathers, the Lakota Sioux tour extensively. Booking them is no easy feat. Hawai’i audiences loved them when they were here 12 years ago so they’re finally back for more. It’s a kick-off to a great season at LCC. Get tickets fast–there’s only one performance on Sept. 21.

Coming up: Battling demons and the pursuit of enlightenment in Journey to the West, adapted by Mary Zimmerman; Nov. 14-16.

$19-$23, [lcctheatre.hawaii.edu], 455-0385

Manoa Valley Theatre

What’s playing: Always…Patsy Cline

Directed by Jim Hutchison and starring Zenia Zambrano Moura…wait, does this sound familiar? If you were around these parts six years ago it might. MVT produced A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline in 2002–same director, same gal starring as the country legend, but rumor has it that Moura is one of the best Patsys the Patsy Cline Estate has seen. She’s back singing 28 of Cline’s hits, so don your cowboy boots and head on up to the valley for a toe-tapping good time. The show closes Sept. 21. “And I’m crazy for lo-o-ving you.”

Coming up: Frost/Nixon, about the series of televised interviews Richard Nixon granted David Frost in 1977 in which the former pres apologized about the Watergate scandal. Next up: Walters/Bush, anyone?

$20-$35, [manoavalleytheatre.com], 988-6131