Watch for Moonlight and Magnolias in Penfold Theatre Company's 2012-13 season.

Making plans for the future can be difficult once Austin’s summer begins. It gets so hot, Austinites’ brains turn to survival mode, and can develop nothing more than plans to strategically place mini-fridges throughout their home so they’re never more than two feet from a cool beverage.

Before the thermometers burst, take some time to consider the upcoming seasons of some of Austin’s theatre companies. Here are a few of the shows I’m most looking forward to seeing in the 2012-13 season:

Penfold Theatre: Moonlight and Magnolias. When David O. Selznick, producer of Gone with the Wind, determines the shooting script isn’t up to par, he spends five days with the director and writer to pull together a new script. I want to see this because it’s based on true events and because I really enjoyed Penfold’s recent production of The Pavilion.

Zach Theatre: 33 Variations. The show is about a musicologist eager to learn the history behind Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. It thematically explores parallels between the musicologist’s descent into ALS and Beethoven prolonged battle into deafness. Famed pianist Anton Nel will perform the music. (Beethoven was one of my heroes in my teenage years. Yeah, I was a nerd.)

Mary Moody Northen Theatre:  Under Construction by Charles Mee. The playwright says  his collage of vignettes was inspired in part by the Saturday Evening Post’s Norman Rockwell’s covers. You can listen to Mee talk about the play here, but bear in mind that he’s talking about a different theatre company than the one that will present it in Austin.

Okay, I know this barely touches the surface of what will be offered in the upcoming theatre season, but I can only slave over my hot computer for so long. So, you tell me… what shows are you looking forward to in the fall? (Ah, the cool, cool, fall….)