Tipping their hats to a new school year and a fresh start, many local theatres start their new seasons in the fall. And while some offer summer productions, others took a break, but it is clear that everyone is ready to hit the stage running. Shows range from romantic classics like Pride and Prejudice at Barnstormers in Grants Pass to Steve Martin’s enjoyable comedy Picasso at the Lapin Agile at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland, and plenty of drama in between.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Dick Van Dyke is a tough act to follow, but the Rogue Music Theatre is going to give it a go in their performance of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. An eccentric inventor refurbishes an old grand prix car that takes on a personality of its own and takes the whole family on an adventure to distant and dangerous lands. August 31 – September 2, Rogue Music Theatre at Grants Pass Performing Arts Center, 830 NE 8th Street, Grants Pass, $7 – $15

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Based on an actual establishment, a century-old brothel in a small Texas town run by Miss Mona Stangley finds itself in danger of being shut down. Luckily, they have an in with local sheriff Ed Earl Dodd. September 5 – 23, Camelot Theatre, 101 Talent Avenue, Talent, $20 – $36

Forbidden Broadway

Forbidden Broadway leaves no show sacred, and any performer is a target in this cabaret revue spoof of Broadway musicals. Originally performed in 1982 at Palsson’s Supper Club in New York City, the show ran for 2,332 performances. Director Gerard Alessandrini continued to update the popular show to include new material, keeping the parodies fresh through the years.

September 7 – 23, Randall Theatre, 10 E. Third Street, Medford, $20 – $22

Pride and Prejudice

Straight from the pages of Jane Austen’s novel, Jon Jory brings Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to the stage in a quick-witted adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The attraction is obvious to everyone but the two involved, but will they set their issues aside in order to let their true love take root and blossom?

September 7 – 23, Barnstormers Theatre, 112 NE Evelyn Avenue, Grants Pass, $15

Picasso at the Lapin Agile

Even Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso were young once, and Steven Martin thought it would be oh so cute if they happened to meet in a Parisian café one day in 1904. Just before these two rock the world in all seriousness, this absurdist comedy brings them down to our level to have a little fun in Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

September 20 – November 11, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, 241 Hargadine Street, Ashland, $22 – $36

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Battling smoky conditions for performances in their iconic outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival presses on with a diverse season. Juggling world premieres, film adaptations and of course classic Shakespeare, their season ends in October; it is time to catch any and all shows left before it is too late.

Through October 12

Romeo and Juliet

Through October 13

The Book of Will

Through October 14

Love’s Labor’s Lost

Through October 27

Henry V, Manahatta, Oklahoma!, Snow in Midsummer

Through October 28

Othello, Sense and Sensibility, The Way the Mountain Moved

Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 15 S. Pinoneer Street, Ashland

Prices vary