Three theater companies of widely divergent approaches are ready to raise their curtains on the new season:

The East Liberty-based company starts the season Sept. 8 with a reworked version of Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus," renamed "faustUS" by the international acting troupe 404 Strand.

Pittsburgh theatergoers are acquainted with the group, led by director Dan Jemmett, whose previous work here -- "Dogface," "The Collected Works of Billy the Kid" and "Museum of Desire" -- were Quantum Theatre productions.

The run ends Sept. 12.

The dance show, "Above Under and InBetween," by Austrian choreographer Willi Dorner runs Sept. 18-19.

The dance "offers fresh perspectives on how people move and how we treat our bodies in the course of our everyday lives," said Diane C. Wuycheck, theater company spokeswoman.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation are funding the production.

New dance and theater productions are the subject of "I Am Artist," Oct. 5-9, a presentation of the Alumni Theater Company.

On Oct. 31, Squonk Opera takes on Halloween with its new production, "Halloween Mayhem," billed as a "family-oriented, interactive" party.

It's a mixed-bag production Nov. 6-7 with "STORE," presented by Anonymous Bodies/Kate Watson Wallace, a Philadelphia troupe.

It terms itself "performance art, part dance party, part replication of the shopping experience."

Theater namesake Billy Strayhorn is celebrated on his birthday, Nov. 28, with the production "Suite Life," based on his jazz compositions.

Tickets for each performance are $15 in advance; $20 at the door; $10 for ZIP code 15206 residents; and $5 for students and artists (with a required reservation via info@kelly-strayhorn.org).

To order: www.kelly-strayhorn.org or call 412-363-3000.

Prime Stage bounces from classics to contemporary and back for its 2009-10 season of three plays:

Thorton Wilder's mainstay, "Our Town" (Oct. 17-25); the stage version of Mitch Albom's book, "Tuesdays With Morrie" (Feb. 20-28); and Shakespeare's enduring tragedy, "Romeo and Juliet" (April 17-25).

Launched in 1996, the theater company focuses on plays for children and their parents. It was recently named Outstanding Children's Theater Company by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education.

Individual tickets are $10, $15 and $20. To order, call ProArts at 412-394-3353 or www.proartstickets.org. Season subscriptions are also available through Prime Stage's Web site: www.primestage.com.

Held in the New Hazlett Theater, Allegheny Center, North Side, shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

"Count Dracula" is played for laughs when the University of Pittsburgh's student-based drama company opens its season Oct. 22.

The re-imagined version of the Bram Stoker novel is directed by Pitt theater professor W. Stephen Coleman, who promises campy performances and special effects.

It runs through Nov. 1 at the Charity Randall Theater in the Stephen Foster Memorial, Oakland.

Moliere's classic "Scapin," featuring commedia dell'arte star Gale McNeeley, plays Feb. 3-14 in the Studio Theater at the Cathedral of Learning.

The play is adapted by Bill Irwin and Mark O'Donnell. Holly Thuma directs.

Pitt Rep presents another novel adaptation with "Alice" by Emilia Anderson and Tamara Goldbogen. Drawn from the Lewis Carroll novel, it runs March 24-April 3 in the Studio Theater.

Individual tickets are $22. To order, visit the box office in the lower level of Stephen Foster or call 412-624-7529.