Last year was certainly not the best of times for the Overture Center for the Arts. Sitting at the bottom of $28 million hole with its trust fund entirely depleted, the Center is without a doubt facing the wrath of the current economic recession and Madison officials, including Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, have made it clear the city will not participate in resolving the remaining debt.

However, as “The Dark Knight” District Attorney Harvey Dent would say, “The night is darkest just before the dawn,” and things have been looking up since the first of the year for the Overture Center, according to Publicist Rob Chappell. Better yet, the Center announced its exciting 2009-10 season for the first time Wednesday, and it promises to have good things in store for students.

Although the numbers calculated at this point are for January and February only, the Overture Center has made $913,000 on ticket sales, which is only 3 percent short of budget. In fact, the ticket sales for February alone were 5 percent over budget thanks to better than expected crowds for “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Chappell said.

“Our promoter shows, which is when outside promoters rent a hall and do their own show, are also really picking up, coming in at 25 percent over budget,” Chappell said. “This is really good for us, because last year’s deficit was largely attributable to a lack in promoter shows.”

While the Overture Center’s new season will continue to include a number of shows not particularly geared toward college students, there are certainly some top-quality performances from a wide variety of genres that should get students excited. As far as music goes, be sure to catch “Neil Burg’s 100 Years of Broadway,” which revives the greatest show-stoppers of the last century, and the comedy band The Blanks from the TV show “Scrubs.” For something a little more spectacular, do not miss everybody’s favorite animal expert Jack Hanna or magician Bill Blagg III, who has been described as David Copperfield meets Second City.

The highlight of the season, though, is the Center’s outstanding Broadway series. The schedule includes the 2008 Tony Award-winning “Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps,” “Grease,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “Seussical” and a four-week run of “Disney’s The Lion King.”

“What is exciting about the Broadway series is that we are now considered the top tier in the market for Broadway,” said Tom Carto, president and CEO of the Overture Center. “Therefore, we will have full week runs of Broadway for the first time in the history of the Center.”

In order to help these big production shows thrive, the Overture Center is concentrating more this season on appealing to students, who often want to see these popular shows but do not have the cash to pay for the high-priced tickets. Although the Center does plan to continue to offer more affordable shows as well as student discounts for these events, it is also taking entirely new measures to lure in students.

“We are on Facebook now, which is really cool,” Chappell said. “If you become a fan of the Overture Center, you will have exclusive access to the inside scoop on ticket giveaways, discounts and a variety of other promotions.”

Chappell said the Overture Center also plans to enact a grassroots campaign that will consist of recruiting a student street-team to put in a couple of hours distributing flyers and information into the hands of students around campus in exchange for free tickets.

Even though this season already features an all-star lineup, the Center did change its programming strategy a bit by reducing the number of shows as a whole, leaving the door open for cheaper, more student-friendly events to join later in the year.

“Our season is a little more driven back this year than it was last year,” Chappell said. “We are not bringing in as many touring acts this year, which leaves the venues open for more promoters. Therefore, we are going to be more aggressive in pursuing those outside promoters, which means students can definitely anticipate some terrific shows as the season goes along.”

In addition, the Overture Center plans to hold more pre-show parties this season similar to the Mardi Gras Mambo party that took place before a Neville Brothers concert in February. These events proved to be popular as they not only feature local bands, food and refreshments, but also are free to attend, Chappell said.

All in all, both Chappell and Carto believe this is going to be an electrifying season for students and everyone else as well.

“I think Overture is really beginning to establish itself as a permanent part of this unique cultural fabric that we call Madison,” Carto said. “I think this season will be living proof of this as it is certainly one of the most exciting, if not the most exciting season that we have ever done here.”