The 2009/2010 Broadway in Savannah series begins Saturday with the elaborate production Cirque Dreams Illumination.

Year after year, the series has brought the glitz and glamour of Broadway to the Coastal Empire, with full-scale productions at Savannah’s Johnny Mercer Theater. Past shows have included Cats, Miss Saigon, Riverdance, and Camelot. This year’s season, which concludes in March, includes Irving Berlin’s I Love a Piano, Avenue Q, Stomp, The Wedding Singer and The Wizard of Oz.

The name of Saturday’s show may evoke images of a circus - and that wouldn’t be too far off the mark. The show does feature many circus elements, such as acrobats, a clown, tight rope walkers and a contortionist.

At $30 a ticket - the most affordable show of the season - the show aspires to draw a family audience.

"Seven-year-olds will enjoy it as much as their grandparents," said performer Janine Romano, who plays the lead part of a news reporter who narrates the play. "I’m sure no one will leave the show without a smile on their face and in awe of what they just saw."

Romano said the idea of ‘illumination’ is to turn "an ordinary city into an extraordinary city. You’ll see things like people on the street performing amazing acrobatic feats and construction workers dance on a high wire … It takes regular city life into a fairy tale world."

Tickets are on sale now at the Johnny Mercer Theatre box office, online at www.savannahcivic.com or charged by phone at 651-6556. Subscriptions to multiple shows are available as well by calling 651-6557.