Ed Stern, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s producing artistic director, today announced the shows that will make up his 20th and final season for the city’s Tony Award-winning regional theater. It consists of several shows that have proven track records with audiences as well as a smattering of new works. The season is precisely the kind of mix that audiences have come to expect from Stern during his two decades at the Playhouse — that is, unpredictable selections with enough of the tried-and-true and the wait-til-you-see-this-one that will keep everyone eager to see what’s next.

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This is the final weekend for performances by New Edgeclif Theatre of an unusual double-bill. Part one is a delightful one-man performance by local actor Joshua Steele of David Sedaris's The Santaland Diaries, an account of working as a Christmas elf — named "Crumpet" — at Macy's in New York City. Steele was great in this a year ago, and he's even better this time around.

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Want to get a big dose of new theater? You’ll want to spend some time in Louisville next March and April, when Actors Theatre of Louisville presents its 33rd consecutive Humana Festival of New American Plays. Productions begin on March 1, 2009, and continue through April 11. The 2009 festival will present six full-length plays, a comic anthology showcasing the Actors Theatre Acting Apprentice Company and three 10-minute plays.

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Even as the Showboat Majestic opens another show this summer (The Art of Murder by Joe DiPietro kicks off tonight and continues through Aug. 28), it’s time to announce the ’boat’s 90th season in 2012, featuring an all-American slate of musicals and comedies to please patrons aboard America’s last showboat, a National Historic Landmark. Here’s the 2012 season:

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The Mormons are coming! The Mormons are coming! No, not the one running for president (although he's showing up pretty often). It's the award-winning irreverent musical The Book of Mormon, which Broadway Across America announced this morning will be part of its 2013-2014 season at the Aronoff Center. The winner of nine Tony Awards (including the best musical of 2011) is a satirical look at two naive and idealistic Mormon missionaries who are sent to a remote Ugandan location where a nasty warlord is oppressing the villagers. Their clueless devotion, good-hearted but misguided — with a lot of very off-color humor — has made The Book of Mormon an unusual hit.

It will come as no surprise to CityBeat readers that the guys behind this are Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of animated South Park, another outrageously irreverent look at contemporary life. Also involved was composer Robert Lopez, whose Avenue Q was another Broadway hit, this one featuring Sesame Street-styled puppets in very adult situations.

The Book of Mormon has been a big Broadway hit. It will be interesting to see how it plays at the Aronoff Center for audiences that tend to be very mainstream, if not downright conservative in what they'll line up to see. I'm eager to see this one! Broadway Across America has not announced specific dates for the engagement yet.

The Fine Arts Fund has released the results of a year-long study intended to start the process of building more collective responsibility in Greater Cincinnati for the arts. Despite the general public’s longstanding support for arts and culture in their communities, charitable giving to and public funding of the arts struggle to keep up with demand nationally and locally — and this study was undertaken to try to “change the conversation” here about the arts as a shared public good and to motivate Cincinnatians to increase support.

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Cincinnati's visual arts community is rallying around the seriously ill artist Brian Joiner to raise money for his medical expenses. This Friday from 5-10 p.m., a retrospective of his work — everything from note cards to a 30-foot work, featuring subjects like running women, a school of fish and his portraits, florals and landscapes — will be on display at the studio of Mary Barr Rhodes

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New Stage Collective has announced it's shutting down operations after presenting Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music April 30-May 8. Producing Artistic Director Alan Patrick Kenny says the musical will be staged at Know Theatre of Cincinnati instead of the company's Main Street space.

In a press release, New Stage trustees are quoted as saying, “We are heartbroken by this painful, difficult decision to cease further operations. The severity of the economic downturn coupled with rapidly diminishing resources made producing another season impossible.”

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Cincinnati Ballet today announced its 49th season schedule. Dance fans can expect an array of popular classics and exciting premieres for 2012-2013. The season kicks off Sept. 6 and runs through April 27, 2013.

The Kaplan New Works Series (Sept. 6-16, Cincinnati Ballet Center): This annual season opener celebrates new ideas and creative movement showcasing the female choreographer and focusing on local artists. This world premiere features dancers Amy Seiwert and Paige Cunningham, two SCPA alum, Director Heather Britt and choreographer Jessica Lang.

Alice in Wonderland (Oct. 26-28, Music Hall): After its world premiere with Washington Ballet, Cincinnati will be the first to jump down the rabbit hole with Alice & Co. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will perform Matthew Pierce's original score. Choreographer Septime Webre (Cincinnati Ballet's Peter Pan) and costume designer Liz Vandal (Cirque du Soliel) will create a wild world for Alice to romp through that will ignite the senses of audiences.

Frisch's Presents: The Nutcracker (Dec. 14-23, Aronoff Center): Victoria Morgan re-imagined the classic for 2011's world premiere, The New Nutcracker. This whimsical interpretation returns in 2012, complete with dancing cupcakes, flying bumblebees and a Sugar Plum Parade, where audience members will be invited to walk acrid stage and get a closer peek at the sets, costumes and dancers.

Romeo & Juliet (Feb. 14-16, Aronoff Center): Just in time for Valentine's Day, Shakespeare's romantic tragedy comes to life in a new way. Victoria Morgan blends classical dance with contemporary movement to capture audiences' favorite moments.

Prodigal Son with Extremely Close (March 22-23, Aronoff Center): Neo-classical choreographer George Balanchine comes to Cincinnati with his rendering of the classic parable about sin, redemption and unconditional love. On the same bill, Extremely Close is Alejandro Cerrudo’s thoughtful contemporary work. The performance opens on a stage of falling feathers, reflecting the delicacy and fluidity of movement, and connected throughout, punctuated by a surprising, thought-provoking ending.

Ballet Toybox (March 24, Aronoff Center): Designed to introduce children and families to the joy of dance, this performance delivers a mix of classic and modern favorites. Clocking in at less than 60 minutes, this "mini-performance" is an easy and affordable way to enjoy the ballet with the whole family.

Frampton & CB Come Alive (April 26-27, Aronoff Center): Legendary guitarist Peter Frampton will create a new work specifically for the performance and play live alongside choreography collaboration from Cincinnati Ballet and Exhale Dance Tribe.

New subscriptions and subscription renewals are now available at the Cincinnati Ballet Center (1555 Central Pkwy., Over-the-Rhine) or by calling 513-621-5282. Individual tickets to the following shows will be available July 22 at cballet.org.

It was reported today that the Ohio Arts Council will be facing a budget reduction of 47 percent, one the largest percentage cuts in the new state budget.

From the OAC web site:

As the state’s budget heads to Governor Strickland’s desk for his signature, Ohio Arts Council staff is diligently working with final budget numbers to calculate fiscal year 2010 grant awards. Because the state arts budget was not finalized until July 10, 2009, grant award announcements will not be available until around July 24.

At the June OAC Board meeting, the Board voted to provisionally approve all grants for one year, instead of two years for some programs, until a special emergency session of the Board can be held in August to determine the best course of action for agency programs and operations.

The final version of the FY2010/2011 budget ($13,188,578 for the biennium) will reduce OAC grants by 38 percent from the final FY2009 budget and 47 percent from the original FY2008/2009 appropriation ($24.9 million). This will have a significant impact on FY2010/2011 grant amounts, although actual percentage reductions will vary by program. Some programs will be put on hiatus. This drastically reduced budget severely limits the ability of the OAC to provide financial assistance to artists, arts organizations, schools and other entities engaged in cultural programming throughout the state.

"Ohio’s cultural sector is critically important to the economic recovery of our state. The OAC will continue to do its best to help support the arts and cultural organizations that are reeling from the effects of the economic downturn,” said OAC Executive Director Julie Henahan. “Even at this dramatically reduced level, OAC funding will help maintain jobs, support education programs and drive tourism in Ohio.”

Headquartered in Columbus, the OAC was founded in 1965 to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and assist the preservation of Ohio's cultural heritage."

For fiscal year 2009, the OAC granted $1,498,651 to Cincinnati-based artists and organizations.

Most of the large arts organizations in Cincinnati received some funding from the OAC for 2009, including Cincinnati Ballet, the Cincinnati Arts Association, Children's Theater of Cincinnati, Contemporary Arts Center, Urban Appalachian Council, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Kennedy Heights Arts Center, Media Bridges, Madcap Productions, Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Women Writing For (a) Change, Taft Museum, Cincinnati Boychoir and many more.

A total of 65 grants were awarded in Cincinnati for 2009. The five largest grants were:

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra: $404,986
Playhouse in the Park: $144,817
Cincinnati Museum Association: $167,512
Cincinnati Opera: $100,142
Cincinnati Ballet: $91,966

To see all the grants awarded in Cincinnati, click here.

To learn more about the Ohio Arts Council, visit www.oac.state.oh.us.