For its 90th anniversary season, DHT finally put the cap on Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" next May. It was a last-minute switcheroo. "The day the fax (granting approval) came in, we announced it, right down to the wire."

And the Tony Award-winning "Full Monty," which has been on DHT's wish list for nearly four years, will be the opening attraction for the 91st season in fall 2005, said Rampage. "We got it and we can announce it a year out."

The Honolulu Theatre for Youth also has a milestone season ahead — its 50th — and it has pondered the future and the past for its slate of shows.

"Originally, we were going to do a grab-bag season, like the first play HTY ever did, and a play from each decade," said Mark Lutwak, artistic director. "But in theater, the work is creative, and not all theater ages so well. Some of the earlier plays, we couldn't do now, because we're not the same company we were 50 years ago. HTY started as a community theater, with 25 people on stage in some shows. We couldn't do that now, since we pay everybody." Six or seven actors would comprise a large cast.

Indefatigable Lee Cataluna looms big in two HTY productions, one an original musical (with songs by Wade Cambern of the Hawaiian Style Band), titled "The Konatown Musicians," in September; the other a revival in April of "Musubi Man," which Cataluna adapted from a popular children's book, with BullDog directing instead of acting in it.

Cataluna, who also is an Advertiser columnist, has a world premiere, "Half Dozen Long Stem," at Kumu Kahua in September, bringing her distinctive local humor to a Honolulu lei and flower shop and expected to become a staple in the tradition of her "Folks You Meet in Longs" last season.

Kumu Kahua, which showcases works that deal with the Island experience, also commissioned Darrell H.Y. Lum's "David Carradine Not Chinese," which examines racial stereotypes set in the Chinese community.

For local audiences, "Miss Saigon" —Êwhich has a growing roster of Island alumni that played in the Broadway company and touring productions — should be a blockbuster at Army Community Theatre, said Vanita Rae Smith, entertainment director. Smith finagled the rights when she heard that a military theater overseas that seats 150 in Germany was doing it.

"I said I'm overseas, too, and there was back-to-back negotiations to get 'Miss Saigon,' " said Smith. "I wanted it in a time slot when 10,000 of our U.S. troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan next February and March. And our theater (Richardson Theatre, at Fort Shafter) seats 808."

She also is seeking locals for the cast; auditions are set Nov. 22-24. "But I've heard from a recording artist in Denmark, who wants to do Kim, and a postcard from Ohio, from another who is finishing playing Kim. They heard about our production on our Web site."

Soldiers and their families will be invited to the show "and we intend to have a helicopter in the production," Smith said of her Army link.

At Manoa Valley Theatre, it's been a challenge to secure fresh-from-New York shows, said Dwight Martin, producing director. "Fewer shows are being developed; the cost of launching new shows for Broadway and off-Broadway continues to go up, so the number of new shows keeps going down, which means there are few recent shows to choose from," he said.

Still, for its 36th season, MVT has secured five Hawai'i premieres, including two musicals. "We've become more conservative in our consumerism. People are less speculative; name recognition of titles, or knowing something in advance about a show, is a factor (in buying)," said Martin.

Among MVT's offerings: "My Way," a revue of revered Frank Sinatra hits, in September; "Cabaret," the Tony Award-winning musical, in March; and "The Graduate," based on the hit film, in May and June.

Kennedy Theatre at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa is sifting gold from the past, too — returning to earlier theatrical hits for a new generation of fans. For example, Lisa Matsumoto's "How Da B-52 Cockroach Learned to Fly," based on her children's book, zooms to center stage in an update of the

original show, "Das How Come," in September. Edward Sakamoto's "Manoa Valley," a staple at Kumu Kahua, will be revived in October-November. And a groundbreaking pidgin reincarnation of "Twelfth Night or What You Will," dubbed "Twelf Nite O' Wateva," bounces back in April-May, as an homage to the late James Grant Benton, who adapted the original Shakespearean comedy and set it to local lingo.

The Bard also lives anew in a U.S.-Vietnamese production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," produced by the Artists Repertory Theatre, and presented by the University of Hawai'i Outreach College and the Hawai'i Theatre in a one-nighter Oct. 15 at the Hawai'i.

Hawai'i Theatre again will be home to a myriad of cultural events — including a theatrical bump or two. That includes "Stomp!" the innovative percussion-heavy performance-art favorite, returning in December-January.

But for Hawai'i Theatre manager Burton White, the big deal simply will be the restoration of the original theater marquee, and the completion of the outside renovation.

"The first light-up will be Nov. 5, part of the monthly First Friday downtown event," said White. After a week of invitational galas for donors and patrons, the theater will then be "finally" opened — signalling the completion of the exterior face — with a "Hawai'i Stars" concert Nov. 7.

At Blaisdell Concert Hall, there's still a scarcity of visiting musical stage hits — a drought, actually. But one production is on the horizon: "Grease," with Frankie Avalon, in residence Dec. 27 to Jan. 2, with a new twist: Songs from the hit movie will be incorporated into the theatrical score.

Tim Bostock Productions, which stages shows in various venues, has assembled the usual eclectic roster including the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an aboriginal troupe from Sydney, Australia, Oct. 8-9 at the Hawai'i Theatre; and Aga-Boom, a comedic act from Russia via Las Vegas, Oct. 20-31 at Mamiya Theatre. The latter features three ex-performers from Cirque du Soleil productions and is an eye-filling, laughter-provoking menagerie of paper, garbage bags and more.

Theater fans have nagged local producing groups to put such audience faves as "The Phantom of the Opera," "Les Miserables" or "Cats" on the radar.

As DHT's Rampage said, "these shows are just not available ("Les Miz" was staged a year ago as a "junior show," produced by Punahou School). We'd love to do these shows. But can't."

For now, anyway.