All around our region, arts organizations work months ahead to plan successful seasons. Issues of booking, contracts, rights and conflicting artistic visions are ironed out; directors, designers and performers hired; ticket order forms and brochures prepared and mailed. Once those season announcements start to flood across my desk, it’s time for me to put together my season—the one that includes the highlights I don’t want to miss.

Of course, artistic directors and curators hope that every show will be a smash. And maybe, depending on audience members’ differing tastes, each performance or exhibition will be memorable in some way. But after interviewing artistic directors and other experts, as well as checking out the regional and national buzz, I’ve selected 20 standouts I’m making plans to attend this season—and I suggest you do the same.

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES

The Sarasota Film Society’s Cine-World Festival is just around the corner, running Nov. 3–12 at Burns Court Cinema, and by the time you read this the roster of more than 50 international films, accompanied by panels, discussions and special guests, will be final. At press time, though, SFS’s Magida Diouri was just heading up to the Toronto Film Festival, one of several from which Cine-World selections—always diverse and captivating—are drawn. She did say that the fest would include a “Viva Pedro” theme to salute the wildly entertaining films of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her, All About My Mother), including eight of his master works. French films, first films, and, perhaps, Arab films will also be in the spotlight. Go to www.filmsociety.org for the complete schedule.

SARASOTA IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The ninth annual Sarasota Film Festival runs April 13–22, and festival organizers for this mega-event were, like those for the Cine-World Festival, headed up to Toronto back in September (the competition for the best movies in Canada must get pretty heated). But executive director Jody Kielbasa could tell us that the fest is coming off its strongest year yet and buzz is growing in the film industry about Sarasota—so another big year is anticipated. For those who can’t wait until April, the Festival’s Moonlight Movies series is screening 30 films outdoors over the next few months.

THAT FELLINI FLAVOR

The Broadway musical Nine is derived from one of the most iconic films of all time: Federico Fellini’s 8 ½, the autobiographical story of a film director who hits a creative block at the same time he finds himself caught in a web of romantic entanglements. Nine goes Fellini one-half of a number better, adding music by Maury Yeston; however, it keeps some of the cinematic flavor of the original, and plenty of eroticism remains, too. That makes it a bit of a departure for the frequently family-oriented Players of Sarasota, where it’s being staged March 29 through April 8. Lots of good roles for actresses, and one great role for the lucky stiff who’s surrounded by them as the charismatic but troubled Guido.

AMERICAN MASTERPIECES

When the Ringling Museum of Art opens its doors for Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, it will also be opening its doors for the first time on the brand-new Arthur F. and Ulla R. Searing Wing, which adds 30,000 square feet of exhibition space to the museum in a design originally approved by John Ringling himself. Just in time, as the Corcoran exhibition includes more than 70 works documenting the development of American painting from its beginnings in the 18^th century to the early 20^th. (You need space for such a wide-ranging show). Expect to see a stunning mix of American countryside landscapes, Gilded Age opulence, luminous American Impressionists and paintings from the dawning of American realism, Feb. 3 through April 29.

LORDS OF THE RINGS

You’ll want to get up close to examine the exquisite pieces on display in the Ringling Museum’s Bedazzled: 4,500 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum, Feb. 3 through April 29. The Walters, based in Baltimore, sends our way Henry Walters’ private collection of jewelry from the days of antiquity to the fanciful Art Nouveau creations of Rene Lalique. That simple but oh-so- important piece of jewelry, the ring, will be the specific focus of the exhibit, which should draw “oohs” and “aahs” from even jaded, diamond-dripping matrons.

SELBY’S GREATEST HITS

Selby Gallery at Ringling School of Art and Design celebrates its 20^th anniversary of providing Sarasota with an outlet for extraordinary contemporary art with a two-part exhibition that revisits some of the most outstanding one-person shows in the gallery’s history. Gallery director Kevin Dean has selected, from those 50 or more shows, such significant 20^th-century artists as Helen Frankenthaler, Leon Golub, Nancy Spero, Faith Ringgold, Pat Steir and Milton Glaser. Part I of the exhibition, dubbed Solos, runs Jan. 5–31; Part II, Feb. 9 through March 7.

MAN IN TIGHTS

There’s no denying there’s a special thrill when a dynamic, nationally renowned dancer guests. That thrill will be palpable when American Ballet Theater superstar Jose Manuel Carreño laces his ballet slippers for the Sarasota Ballet of Florida’s annual gala performance Nov. 29 at the Van Wezel. The Cuban-born Carreño, who elicits “bravos” from the crowds with every step he takes, received the Dance Magazine Award in 2004 for significant contributions to dance. He will dance the second act of Giselle with one of Sarasota Ballet’s own stars, Lauren Strongin (a recent finalist in the prestigious USA International Ballet Competition) and will also perform the Dance Suite from Don Quixote (the final wedding pas de deux) with Kyoko Takeichi.

SAWDUST SPECTACULAR

 Hard to believe, but Circus Sarasota, our own homegrown circus spectacular, celebrates its 10^th year of existence this February, with shows in a new location under the Big Top adjacent to Ed Smith Stadium. Artistic director Pedro Reis always manages to deliver top international performers; this year, they’ll include trapeze artists The Flying Pages (including four family members in a six-member act); hand balancer Pat Bradford and partner Kate Smythe; liberty horse act Erika Zerbini; four-man acrobatic team Yeromenko, performing on a three-leveled high horizontal bar; juggler Rafael DiCarlo; quick-change duo Sudarchikov, and dog trainer Irina Markova. Back for a second stint as ringmaster is Sarasota radio talk show host Cliff Roles, and, of course, Dolly Jacobs once more soars with her acclaimed aerial act. Dates are Feb. 2–25.

PERFECT PAIRNG

Composer Frederic Chopin was distinguished almost as much by his poor health as by his musical genius; pianist Garrick Ohlsson, on the other hand, stands a healthy six feet four and has been described as a “bear-butterfly” by one critic. Nevertheless, there’s been a longstanding, almost mystical connection between the two for decades, certainly ever since Ohlsson became the first American to win first prize in the International Chopin Competition back in 1970. Ohlsson does not play just Chopin, of course, but it’s always memorable when he does. He leads off the Florida West Coast Symphony’s Masterworks this season, Nov. 9–12, playing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, written when the composer was barely out of his teens but indicative of his great talent as well as his Polish heritage (a mazurka figures in the finale).

POLE POWER

In its ’06-’07 season (which will be shortened because of impending major renovations of the Opera House), the Sarasota Opera will stage the first production of the 150-year-old Halka by a professional U.S. company. The work, by Stanislaw Moniuszko (think of him as the Polish Schubert), is considered the national opera of Poland (and yes, it will be sung in the original Polish, but those English surtitles go a long way). You’ll hear more mazurkas, along with polonaises and folk music with that Polish flavor, in this story of a mountain maiden seduced and abandoned by an aristocrat. Cue the tears now.

A SURE WINNER

 It’s all in the cards when the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre presents a new musical called Bingo, Jan. 3 through Feb. 25. Sounds perfect for Florida audiences, as the main characters are longtime friends whose passion for the game drives them to the church basement despite a fierce hurricane raging outside. The Apple’s Bob Turoff says it’s interactive, too—the set features a big board designed to light up with different winning bingo patterns, and we all get to play along. Among the songs by Michael Heitzman, Ilene Reid and David Holcenberg: B4 and Gentleman Caller. Bingo debuted in New York last fall and may go on to a national tour after it plays here—where at press time it looked as if it might be the next-to-last show staged at the venerable downtown theater. Stay tuned on that.

SECRETS AND LIES

 The Asolo Repertory Theatre’s Men of Tortuga is being marketed as a world premiere, but this piece by first-time playwright Jason Wells actually got a “First Look” production at famed Steppenwolf in Chicago last year. Still, Wells has been busy rewriting it for the Asolo run, Nov. 18 through March 8. The action takes place in an undisclosed location where a shadowy cabal is plotting the assassination of a political enemy. But who are the good guys and who are the baddies? The answers are intentionally kept vague, but Wells has said the play came out of his frustration with the atmosphere “of secrecy, opacity, cynicism and self-interest” that’s crept into public life over the last few years. (The Chicago Tribune’s critic, who raved about the show, wrote that he caught allusions to Karl Rove and Enron. How’s that for topical?)  

GOLDA GIRL

Florida Studio Theatre associate director Kate Alexander has played many roles in her career (including opera legend Maria Callas), but probably none that required more hair and makeup work than her upcoming performance as Golda Meir in Golda’s Balcony, Dec. 6 through Feb. 3 on the FST mainstage. The one-person show by William Gibson (The Miracle Worker) has starred both Tovah Feldshuh and Valerie Harper on Broadway; here, Alexander’s portrayal of the former Prime Minister of Israel will be directed by Terry Lamude, who also directed her fiery performance in Filumena a few seasons ago.

YOGI MASTER

Sometimes a one-person show and an actor seem made for each other. It requires no stretch of the imagination to picture Asolo veteran David S. Howard donning a New York Yankees baseball cap to portray much loved catcher-manager Yogi Berra in Nobody Don’t Like Yogi, onstage at the Historic Asolo Theater Jan. 5–27. Tom Lysaght’s 80-minute play, which starred Ben Gazzara in New York, certainly has a wealth of Yogi-isms to draw from (“If you come to a fork in the road, take it,” “Ninety percent of baseball is half-mental” and, of course, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over”), but with Howard in the role, Yogi won’t become a caricature.

A JAMMIN’ MIRMAID

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, now performing in the Historic Asolo Theater, winds up its season May 3–19 with Once On This Island, a calypso-flavored retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid that stars the music of Stephen Flaherty and the lyrics of Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical). Ti Moune, a poor peasant girl, falls in love with Daniel, an upper-class boy whose life she saves after a car crash. But can a couple from two very different worlds find happiness together? Much is in the hands of the gods of Love, Earth, Water and Death in this tuneful, lively show, a first-ever locally produced presentation of the award winner. Artistic director Nate Jacobs is hoping to team up director-choreographer Reggie Kelly and last year’s Dreamgirls star, Teresa Stanley, but no promises at press time.