Manoa Valley Theatre, regarded as Hawai'i's off-Broadway theater, will present six Island premieres in its upcoming 40th anniversary season. The lineup will include three musicals, two dramas and one comedy.

The slate:

• "Always … Patsy Cline," Sept. 3 through 21 — A sweet 1997 off-Broadway musical by Ted Swindley, about country singer Patsy Cline's friendship with a longstanding pen pal, Houston housewife Louise Seger, that incorporates 28 of Cline's best-known tunes, including "I Fall to Pieces," "Walkin' After Midnight," "Sweet Dreams (of You)" and "Crazy."

• "Frost/Nixon," Nov. 12 through 30 — A 2007 Tony Award-winning drama by Peter Morgan, recounting one of television's milestone interviews, in which a famous British talk-show host David Frost elicits the post-Watergate apology that the world was anticipating from former U.S. president Richard Nixon.

• "Gutenberg! The Musical," Jan. 14 through Feb. 1 — A 2007 musical by Anthony King and Scott Brown, in which a pair of aspiring playwrights stage a backers' audition for a splashy show, with tunes, about printing press inventor Johan Gutenberg.

• "Tuesdays With Morrie," March 18 through April 5 — A 2003 drama by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom, dealing with an ailing professor and a former student who reunite with weekly visits that constitute a final class, with life-affirming probes of the meaning of humanity.

• "Duck Hunter Shoots Angel," May 13 through 31 — A 2004 comedy by Mitch Albom, about two bumbling Alabama brothers who think they shot an angel and are chased by a cynical tabloid journalist and his reluctant photographer who doubt their claim until feathers, wings and a tiare are discovered.

• "The Taffetas," July 1 through 19 — A 1998 musical by Rick Lewis, now on a national tour, about four singing sisters from Muncie, Ind., who make their national TV debut performing hits of the 1950s, paying homage to such stars and songs of the era like the McGuire Sisters' "Sincerely," the Fontaine Sisters' "Hearts of Stone" and the Chordettes' "Mr. Sandman."Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays at MVT, 2833 E. Manoa Road.

Season subscription sales are under way, with five-admission flex pass options ($150) or the full six-play package ($155).

Call 988-6131 or go to www.manoavalleytheatre.com.