Story by MITCHELL BROWN (for The Muleskinner)

The 2012-2013 Performing Arts Series season is set to start next month. Eight events  are scheduled to take place.

The first event, “Charo In Concert!,” will be on Sept. 28, and will be a part of UCM’s   Family Weekend.

Jeff Imboden, director of the Performing Arts Series, said “Charo in Concert!” will probably be the biggest draw of all the events. It’s a Vegas-style stage show that combines music and comedy.

John Amos will put on a one-man show entitled “Halley’s Comet,” Feb. 12. Amos played James Evans on the popular 70s sitcom “Good Times.”

The plot of “Halley’s Comet” revolves around a first person narrative of a man who has lived to old age and has seen Halley’s Comet twice.

One presentation of this season that stands out is  “The  Capitol  Steps,” a mixture of music and political satire, set to perform Oct. 18. “The act had to be booked a year in advanced to have their performance coincide with this election year,” Imboden said.

He said they have a Barack Obama look-a-like and a Mitt Romney look-a-like, and they proceed to “go at it.”

“The Capitol Steps” have recorded more than 30 albums and have appeared on NBC,  ABC, CBS and PBS.

“Nashville Backstage Pass” will  be  April  12, in which a collection of singers/songwriters will walk the audience through the song-writing process.

“This event will be the most interactive out of this season’s lineup,” Imboden said. He also noted that all of this year’s events have an interactive component to them.

Tonic Sol-Fa, an a cappella  singing  group, will perform Thursday, Nov. 29. They    have been described as “a hip mixture of Tony Bennett and Reality Bites.”

Musical performances at Central pre-date the creation of the Performing Arts Series.

Imboden said that in the past, both Johnny Cash and the rock band Cheap Trick had played at UCM prior to the existence of the Performing Arts Series, which was founded in 1988, making this season its 25th anniversary.

One of the goals of the Performing Arts Series is not just to provide entertainment,   but also provide an educational component with each presentation.

Also included in this year’s lineup is the 14th annual MLK Gospel Concert on  Jan. 21,     John Tarantula’s “ImaginOcean” on March 13,  which has been described as “a one of kind live black-light puppet show” and “a magical undersea adventure for kids of all ages,” and “And We Will Share the Sky,” on Oct. 26 and 27, a children’s theater production by Donna Latham.

All of the scheduled performances will take place in Hendricks Hall.

More information on the Performing Arts Series can be found online at www.ucmo.edu/pas.