The whodunit musical "Curtains" makes its Pittsburgh debut, joining "The Producers" and "Hairspray" as first-time Pittsburgh CLO productions for the 2010 summer season.

The splashy pop opera "Miss Saigon" returns to the CLO spotlight, along with the season-opening "Oliver!" June 1 and "The Student Prince" to close the season in August.

Unlike last year, when the national touring company of "Legally Blonde" dropped by for a week, Pittsburgh CLO will produce all of the 2010 shows. The company had hoped to bring in another recent Broadway show it had invested in, "9 to 5," but the tour won't debut in time. Van Kaplan, CLO's executive producer, said he expects it to be on the 2011 schedule.

"We invest in a [Broadway] show because it's a new work and we want to try to bring it to Pittsburgh in the summer," Kaplan said. "We also produce new shows, so we are involved in a number of different aspects of the show's development."

With "9 to 5" unavailable and "no other [tour] we're interested in presenting, quite frankly," the way was paved for a production of "Curtains," another show that CLO had invested in but one that hasn't toured.

"Curtains" was among the last collaborations between composer John Kander and the late lyricist Fred Ebb, whose Broadway scores include "Cabaret," "Chicago" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman."

The musical provided a showcase for Tony-winner David Hyde Pierce as a detective investigating the murder of a star who dies during the opening-night curtain call.

"Miss Saigon" is back because it was "a big success" at CLO seven years ago, Kaplan said. And there will always be a place for the classics -- old ("Oliver!" and "The Student Prince") and new ("The Producers" and "Hairspray") -- on the schedule.

"That's part of our mission, to do shows for audience development, to bring new audiences to musical theater. It's also to revive the classics. So certainly 'Oliver!' and 'The Student Prince,' those two shows are fulfilling that part of our mission," he said.

The season ender will mark the first time that Kaplan has produced "The Student Prince," the circa-1924 operetta last seen at CLO in 1990.

"It's been on our audience survey year after year, and it's always in the top tier of shows people want to see. ... it's a classical piece of musical theater," Kaplan said. "Those are the kinds of shows we should be reviving."

June 1-6: "Oliver!" -- Charles Dickens' oft-told tale of an orphan's journey was adapted into an award-winning musical by Lionel Bart.

June 8-20: "Miss Saigon" -- Epic love story of an American GI and a Vietnamese girl in wartime, by the "Les Miserables" musical team.

June 22-27: "Curtains" -- Music and lyrics by Kander and Ebb, book by Rupert Holmes, original book and concept by Peter Stone.

July 6-18: "The Producers" -- Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan adapted Brooks' film into a smash that won 12 Tonys.

July 20-Aug. 1: "Hairspray" -- Welcome to John Waters' version of Baltimore circa 1962, with catchy music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

Aug. 3-8: "The Student Prince" -- He's royalty. She's not. Love is inevitable, and so is his choice: Rule a kingdom or abdicate for love? The 1924 musical debuted during Prohibition with the "Drinking Song," in particular, quickly catching on with audiences.

Ticket packages start at $62, more information at pittsburghCLO.org or 412-281-3973. Subscribers can renew online or by calling 412-281-2822.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.