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Around here, the chills mainly come from the air conditioning. Or when the check arrives.

Still, it feels a little like fall when the performing arts venues start to release seasons that kick off in just a few months. The Philharmonic Center for the Arts announced a lineup heavy in Broadway, high arts and nostalgia early this month and now the venue's biggest competition, the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers, has produced its offerings for the coming year.

It's a list with some glam, some substance, some pop culture color and a good dose of return engagements, classic pop icons and Irish clip-clopping.

Broadway. At some point in the last quarter century, the roadshow became the fundamental food group of venues like the Phil and the Mann, mid-sized buildings with good sound systems, nice seats and some cultural gravitas. The shows are generally reliable ticket sellers and even though stars like Nathan Lane or Matthew Broderick don't need to slum it on the road, the performances are often quite good.

This year Mann's Broadway season is hands-down impressive, a hefty list with music (and more music!), classic heavy-hitters and some irreverent fare. I'm particularly looking forward to "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" (April 3-8), which swept the Tony nominations (and garnered a few awards) in 2005. Although it's had a bit of a troubled road, I'm also interested in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (Dec. 12-17): In March, New York Times critic Ben Brantley called it the most improved show of the season, adding that "the show seemed to have been created, cynically and expressly, for that ridiculed demographic category the tired businessman."

Who cares? It's based on a movie.

Also this season: a revival of "Man of La Mancha" (Jan. 2-7), which was revived last in 2002; Chita Rivera remembers her illustrious career in "The Dancer's Life" (April 24-29), which featured book by Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally and Rivera's still magnetic legs; the ho-hum but sure to be popular "Disney's The Lion King" (Jan. 18-Feb. 25) and "The Producers" (June 19-24); and the embarrassing prospect of "Legends!" (April 24-29), "a comedy about big stars and bigger egos" starring Joan Collins and Linda Evans.

The Classics. This is the Southwest Florida Symphony's first season without conductor Paul Nadler, who retired after 16 years in 2005-06, and the orchestra is putting six of the seven potential replacements through their paces at the Mann. It offers an unusual opportunity to witness the work of conductors vying to shape a local orchestra's sound for the next few years. Concert high points include Michael Daugherty's ode to Superman, "The Red Cape Tango," performed as part of "The Emperor's of Music" (Dec. 1-2), and "Masters of Emotion" (April 20-21), which features Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" and Mahler's Symphony No. 1.

The Funny. The Mann delves into a searing kind of funny with Kathy Griffin (Oct. 11) and Lewis Black (Dec. 29). Both made their bones in stand-up, but found a higher grade of celebrity on cable — Black with five one-man specials and occasional screeds on "The Daily Show" and Griffin in her reality dish-fest "My Life on the D-List."

There are laughs here, but like a lot of the post "Saturday Night Live" comic world, they aren't always easy laughs. Which is a welcome nod to ticket buyers who might gravitate more to "The Kids in the Hall" than the gentle humor of "The Honeymooners."

The If-You're-Free. The godfather of observational George Carlin also returns to the Mann on Dec. 7. He's one of a handful of once cutting-edge performers who ascend to the possibly interesting in this up-close-and-personal setting: Bill Cosby (March 30), Tony Bennett (Dec. 10), The Beach Boys (March 12), and Tom Jones (April 1), who appears at the Phil the next evening.

The What-Were-They-Thinking. Every season has them, critically passé acts which will nevertheless sell tickets and inspire devoted testimony from fans.

• Tony Danza (March 20), which the press material touts as "indisputably one of America's most popular performers and TV Talk Show hosts," will apparently do some song and dance. Enough said.

• Olivia Newton-John (Nov. 30) has a following, I'm sure. But is there really anything to be gained by her live performance of "You're the One I Want" or "Have You Ever Been Mellow"? Except, of course, getting a glimpse of how well the '70s diva has aged.

• Four words: "Lord of the Dance" (May 5). How different can this version, years away from its startling newness, be from the last one?