North Coast Repertory Theatre has announced its 27th season, which will include a French-themed musical revue, last year's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, two San Diego premieres and a British classic.

The season will open Sept. 10 with "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris," a musical revue by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman celebrating the songs and life of the late French/Belgian singer-songwriter and poet. It runs through Oct. 5.

Next up is Marc Camelotti's "Don't Dress for Dinner," a French-born farce about a married couple trying to keep their lovers a secret during a weekend in the country. It runs Oct. 22 to Nov. 16.

The Solana Beach theater will reprise its 2007 production of "A Christmas Carol," a stage adaptation by Jacqueline Goldfinger of Charles Dickens' holiday story, once again starring veteran San Diego actor Ron Choularton. It will run Dec. 3 to 27.

Next up in Ronald Harwood's classic backstage drama "The Dresser," about an aging Shakespearean actor touring the provinces during World War II with his devoted costumer. Vista actor Jonathan McMurtry, who won a San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award in January for his performances in three Shakespeare plays last year at the Old Globe, will star in the play. It runs Jan. 14 to Feb. 8, 2009.

The season continues Feb. 18-March 15 with the San Diego premiere of Donald Margulies' "Shipwrecked!" The play, subtitled "The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself)," had its world premiere last fall at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa. It's an adventure comedy based on the true story of a Victorian-era jack of all trades.

David Lindsay-Abaire's 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "The Rabbit Hole" will run April 1 to 26. The moving drama is about a couple struggling to recover from the death of their toddler and about the other people touched by the tragedy.

Jon Marans' "Old Wicked Songs" will play May 6-31, 2009. The Vienna-based drama is the story of a struggling young pianist and his aging mentor who tries to reignite the young man's artistic spark.

And the season will close with the San Diego premiere of Tom Dudzick's "Over the Tavern," a coming-of-age comedy about four Polish Catholic teens in a Buffalo, N.Y., household during the Eisenhower years. It will run June 17-July 12, 2008.

For subscription information, call North Coast Rep at (858) 481-1055.

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La Jolla Playhouse has announced the final production of its 2008-09 season: "Memphis," a musical loosely based on the story of a white Tennessee DJ who broke new ground by playing the music of black artists in the 1950s.

Written by David Bryan (keyboardist for the rock band Bon Jovi) and Joe DiPietro, the musical had a debut production in 2003 in Boston. Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley will direct the Playhouse staging, which will be presented Aug. 19 to Sept. 28 in La Jolla.

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Palomar College's Multicultural Studies department will present two free screenings this week of "Ofrenda Desnuda," a Spanish-language film made by Palomar professor Carlos von Son and his filmmaker brother, Art von Son.

Carlos Von Son wrote the screenplay for "Ofrenda Desnuda" (Spanish for "Bare Offering"). It's the story of a Mexican laborer whose plan to celebrate Dia de los Muertos in his new North County community brings unexpected consequences. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles.

Von Son describes the plot of "Ofrenda Desnuda" as a metaphor for the Mexican diaspora and the efforts of Mexican immigrants to hold on to their cultural traditions in the United States. In the story, Pancho arrives in Tijuana from Central Mexico with the goal of crossing into the United States to find work. While in Tijuana, he sees locals celebrating Dia de los Muertos and that reminds him of his wife, who recently died during childbirth. A year later, resettled in San Diego, Pancho decides to return to Mexico to retrieve his late wife's bones so he can rebury them in San Diego and honor her grave each year on Dia de los Muertos. But Pancho's plan goes sour when he is arrested by the Border Patrol and deported. A week later, his wife's bones are discovered in an unmarked grave in San Diego and Pancho is suspected of murder.

The von Son brothers invite the public to see "Ofrenda Desnuda" at two free public screenings at 7 p.m. March 13 and 6:30 p.m. March 14 in Room P-32 at Palomar College, 1140 W. Mission Road, San Marcos. Call (760) 744-1150, Ext. 2219.

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Elmo and Ernie and Bert will be walking the red carpet Friday when SeaWorld San Diego presents the premiere of its new 4-D film, "Sesame Street Presents Lights, Camera, Imagination!"

The new film, which will be shown several times daily in the theme park's Mission Bay Theater, is part of a Sesame Street-themed expansion that includes the "Big Bird's Beach Party" live stage show and a "Breakfast with Elmo" interactive dining experience. On Memorial Day weekend, the park will also open the Sesame Street Bay of Play, a redesigned play area with three child-friendly rides.

The new 18-minute film, which opens to the public on March 15 after a private, red-carpet party on Friday for annual passholders, is described as "4-D," because besides being offered three-dimensional video effects, the audience will be showered with raindrops and feel the sensation of wiggly bugs in their seats. The new film replaces "R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse," which played in the theater from 2003 to 2007.

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Internationally acclaimed German choreographer Pina Bausch will demonstrate her groundbreaking dance work in a free performance Friday at the Kyoto Laureate Symposium in San Diego.

Bausch is one of three Kyoto Prize recipients invited to the symposium, which opens today and continues through Saturday at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel. The symposium includes a gala, a celebration of the Kyoto laureates' work and free public presentations of their prize-winning work.

Bausch, 68, is the artistic director of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, a modern-dance company in Wuppertal, Germany, that specializes in the development of "tanztheater" style dance (a German neo-expressionistic style that translates as "dance theater"). Her dance pieces, which often include dialogue, stage action, large-scale projections and elaborate sets, explore human identity with sadness and humor. Her work was seen in the Pedro Almodovar film "Talk to Her."

Bausch has brought a company of dancers to present a free public performance at 3:30 p.m. March 14 at the University of San Diego.

The other two laureates being honored at the Kyoto conference this week are Dr. Hiroo Inokuchi, a chemist and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, who was a leading innovator in organic molecular electronics (used in fuel cells, robots and solar energy systems), and Dr. Hiroo Kanamori, a geophysicist and professor emeritus from Cal Tech, one of the world's leading experts on earthquake seismology. Inokuchi will discuss his work at 9:30 a.m. March 13 at San Diego State University, and Kanamori will speak at 4 p.m. March 13 at UC San Diego. Visit www.kyotoprize.org.

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"Cowboy" Jack Johnson, a Vista-based singer and bandleader who has performed Hank Williams and Johnny Cash tribute shows around the region for the past decade, is making a mark for himself on the country music charts -- in Europe.

"San Antonio Rose," a track on Cowboy Jack and the North County Cowboys' "Take One" CD (released by Comstock Records) has made its debut at No. 89 on the European Country Music Association's top 100 chart.

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New York's Metropolitan Opera has been hugely successful with its live broadcasts of opera performances to movie theaters nationwide over the past few years. Last year, Milan's La Scala Opera House joined the cinema parade with the premiere of "Aida" in December.

La Scala has announced a new lineup of opera simulcasts for spring that will be presented at the UltraStar La Costa Cinema in Carlsbad. Tickets to the screenings are $20.

The La Scala season begins with Verdi's "La Traviata," starring Greek soprano Angela Gheorghiu and tenor Ramon Vargas. Performances are at noon and 7 p.m. March 26 and 10 a.m. March 27.

Next up on April 30 is Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda," starring Italian divas Mariella Devia and Anna Caterina Antonacci. And the series concludes May 15 with Puccini's "Il Trittico" starring Juan Pons and Paoletta Marrocu.

Tickets can be purchased at the UltraStar box office.

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Father and son will unite in song next week in two Poway performances of Handel's "Messiah" oratorio.

Steve Blinco and his son, Michael Blinco, will be two of the four featured soloists in an Easter-themed concert presented at 7 p.m. March 19 and 20 at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts, 15498 Espola Road in Poway. The concert will feature the Poway Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 70-member choir and soloists Anna Bjarnson-Carson and Jan Jensen.

Bass Steve Blinco has performed as a "Messiah" soloist all over Southern California and performed with the Southern California Mormon Choir. Baritone Michael Blinco, a recent vocal performance graduate from Chapman University Conservatory of Music and graduate of Rancho Bernardo High School, has performed in numerous operas in Orange County.

Call (858) 675-9870.

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Tickets to San Diego Symphony performances can range up to $70 and usually require a drive to San Diego, but on March 15, the orchestra is heading up to North County and admission to the concert is free.

"The Language of Music," a county-sponsored concert for families, will be presented at 2 p.m. March 15 at La Costa Canyon High School, 1 Maverick Way in Carlsbad. The concert will be conducted by Philip Mann and will feature Rancho Bernardo piano prodigy Andy Leu. The high school junior has been playing piano since the age of 4 and violin since age 7. Leu is the winner of the 2007 San Diego Symphony's Young Artists Competition and has played with the San Diego Youth Symphony since 2004.

Admission is free, but tickets are required. To reserve seats, send an e-mail to "oramirez@sandiegosymphony.org" (put "free family concert" in the subject line and include your name, number, e-mail address, phone number and number of requested seats) or call (619) 615-3944.

Pam Kragen is the arts and features editor of the North County Times.