The Mondavi Center’s eighth season, revealed last week, includes a couple of scheduling “twists” intended to keep people coming to the theater and to keep series subscriptions within reach during these tough economic times

“We did our very best to make it more affordable,” said Jeremy Ganter, the center’s associate executive director, “so people can take this journey with us through the world of music, theater and dance.”

One of the scheduling twists is, fittingly, a new series called With a Twist. “Because we decided, this year, more than ever, it would be great to have a little fun,” Ganter said.

Altogether, for 2009-10, the center’s schedule lists 62 events in 20 series, and Ganter said there undoubtedly will be additions — even more than this season, which brought Willie Nelson and k.d. lang as “just added” events.

Series tickets went on sale a week ago; single ticket sales begin Aug. 31. Regular prices range from $20 to $85 for single tickets, compared with last year when prices for individual events ranged as high as $125.

For an added “twist” on affordability, the center has cut the program count in a number of series: Dance, Jackson Hall Jazz, Children’s Stage, World Stage Dance and World Stage Music.

As a result, a series ticket will get you into fewer shows, but the price will be lower — something that Ganter and other officials are counting on to keep people in the seats. It also helps that the center is maintaining its series discounts: 30 percent for faculty and staff (including retirees), and 20 percent for the general public.

At the same time, the center is playing to its strengths by bringing in one more orchestra (for a total of five) and keeping the concert count at four. “People are always asking us, ‘Why can’t you do more orchestra and concert?’” Ganter said.

Also, the center is boosting its classical offerings to 22, more than a third of the schedule, in the Concert, Debut and Alexander String Quartet series, and the new Studio Classics: The American Piano Project.

Among the returning series are American Heritage (including Merle Haggard and Arlo Guthrie), Marvels (creative dance from Pilobus, and modern circus acts from STREB: BRAVE and Diavolo), and Distinguished Speakers (with a lineup that includes David Plouffe, campaign manager for Obama for America; and Arianna Huffington, political commentator).

Other new series include Director’s Choice, Great Voices, American Movement and World Stage Ireland, each with two or three programs.

For Director’s Choice, “We are packaging the three events that we think are far and away the very best of our season,” Ganter said. All three programs are playing the Mondavi Center for the first time:

• Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre of London, presenting Love’s Labour’s Lost, a performance to be dedicated to Chancellor Emeritus Larry Vanderhoef and his wife, Rosalie.

• Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, featuring superstars from other companies, including the New York City Ballet and the Royal Ballet of Britain.

• Philharmonia Baroque, with “the great mezzosoprano Susan Graham, who is at the top of her game,” Ganter said. He said this concert is perfect for arts patrons who need an opera fix, because the program will include all the music from Purcell’s short opera Dido and Aeneas.

People can hear Graham as part of the Director’s Choice Series or the Great Voices Series, which also includes the nine-member, all-male Cantus, presenting a Dec. 6 concert that is sure to be a Christmas favorite.

The concert is titled All Is Calm, a selection of songs, poetry, letters and journal excerpts relating to the extraordinary World War I incident known as the “Christmas Truce.” It happened in 1914, when English and German troops heard each other singing carols and decided to lay down their weapons for 24 hours, so the soldiers could celebrate Christmas together.

Another Great Voice: Grammy Award-winning soprano Christine Brewer, performing half her program with a pianist and half with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra.

The 2009-10 Dance Series comprises three events: Morphoses (which also is part of the Director’s Choice Series), the Lyon Opera Ballet and the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (performing Twyla Tharp’s Sue’s Leg, a tribute to the music of Fats Waller).

“All three are modern ballet, but we’re not making a statement,” Ganter said. “It just so happened we had this opportunity.”

But while the Dance Series has been condensed, the Mondavi Center also is presenting the new, three-program American Movement Series:

• Sideshow Physical Theatre, UC Davis’ resident performing company, presenting Elephant’s Graveyard, a new work by Jade McCutcheon, an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance.

• Ronald K. Brown-EVIDENCE, on its 25th anniversary tour, presenting Come Ye and Upside Down.

• Joe Goode Performance Group (Wonderboy and 29 Effeminate Gestures), in partnership with UC Davis’ Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center.

One of the two With a Twist programs also has an alternative theme: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo: male ballet dancers in drag, “dancing a fine line between high art and high camp,” in a show scheduled for Valentine’s Day.

“Obviously this is very tongue in cheek,” Ganter said, “but they are all very high quality, classically trained dancers.”

The complete season, in a chart, plus ticket information.