CEDAR FALLS -- Expect the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center to go "whole hog" when the 2008-2009 season opens Sept. 11.

"We're celebrating the beginning of the new season with an outdoor hog roast and music before the show," says GBPAC's Lindsay Haskins. The BBQ and blues party is just one of several special pre-show events and coming attractions planned throughout the fall season.

The opening concert at 7 p.m. Sept. 11, features the blues-based Millers, finalists in the 2006 "America's Got Talent" TV show, including LD Miller, the 13-year-old harmonica phenom and vocalist. The barbecue meal will be served on the PAC lawn beginning at 5:30 p.m. Meal tickets are $18, available in advance.

Steve Carignan describes the season as "very diverse, with an international component, and a few guilty pleasures like Joan Jett, that will be pure fun. The coming season features our traditional mix of great artists from around the world and from our own backyard. Included are shows that will lighten your burden and inspire your spirit -- two things everybody needs."

Carignan, assistant vice president for educational and sports events center management also notes, "This season we had such wonderful performances, such great Broadway shows and the Great Hall is such a great theater. Each year we continue that tradition."

The Tony Award-winning "Sweeney Todd" is on stage at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 and 23. As of now, no pre-show event has been tied in to the musical revival about a demon barber who hatches a plot with a neighbor to "slice through" England's upper crust, although Haskins says something fun can be expected. The Cedar Falls show is the first stop on the non-Equity tour.

When the Golden Dragon Acrobats tumble into the PAC for their 3 p.m. Oct. 12 performance, the Buck-A-Kid promotion will feature a kids' carnival. There will be inflatables, a balloon artist and other fun activities, Haskin says, and a carnival-themed reception will be hosted in Davis Hall for all Friends members. The reception will feature cotton candy, corn-dogs, popcorn and some carnival surprises.

Political candidates from all parties can set up a table in the lobby for a little campaigning prior to the 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 performance of "Complete History of America (Abridged)." The Reduced Shakespeare Company will run through 600 years of history in 6,000 seconds -- a 90-minute roller-coaster ride through America's history.

A rock star meal will be catered in, and a band will perform in the lobby prior to the Joan Jett concert at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31. The "haunted Halloween meal" is $8 in advance.

The Billy Joel-Twyla Tharp show, "Moving Out," is on the Great Hall stage for three performances, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8. The Tony Award-winning show is packed with Joel classics. The Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre performs at 7 p.m. Nov. 9, a Buck-a-Kid performance.

Handel's "Messiah" will be performed by the Cedar Valley's own Metropolitan Chorale at 2 p.m. Nov. 23, conducted by Weston Noble. Local musicians will join the chorale to perform Handel's most famous work. Kathy Mattea performs a combination of holiday classics and her country hits in a show at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12. Caroling groups will set the holiday spirit at both "Messiah" and Kathy Mattea concerts.

Note: The Mostar Sevdah Reunion concert on Oct. 18 has been canceled.