Woe to anyone who thinks there aren’t treasures to be found in the Valley’s 2004-2005 theatrical season, amongst the debris of tired retreads such as “Sound of Music” and “Cabaret” (sorry, Phoenix Theatre and Fountain Hills Community Theater: Sally Bowles was so last year) plus all that blasted Shakespeare.

But woe to your checkbook and your gas card, because this season’s slew of excellent promised shows are scattered across the Valley. Skip that subscription package and spread your entertainment moolah around these buzzworthy productions:

The Odd Couple (Sept. 17-21, Copperstate Dinner Theater) — Director Peter Hill’s trying unusual things in his 2004-2005 season, including double-casting “The Odd Couple” with alternating casts of male and female leads. We just want to see a girly Oscar.

Matt and Ben (Oct. 6-17, Scottsdale Center for the Arts) — Take that, Affleck lovers. Scottsdale theater gets hip with this snarky off-Broadway gem.

The Fish Must Die (Oct. 29-Nov. 14, iTheatre Collaborative) — Phoenix’s best small theater for quirky, smart plays, iTheatre gives a little love to Arizona playwright Raymond King Shurtz by staging his “Waiting for Guffman”-meets-“Noises Off”-meets-“A Fish Called Wanda” comedy set backstage at a community theater.

[sic] (Oct. 29-Nov. 20, Stray Cat Theatre) — Melissa Gibson’s “Seinfeld”-ean play about three people who share the third floor of an apartment building was a 2001 off-off-
Broadway hit. We’re giddy to see what Stray Cat can do with it.

Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical (Nov. 5-14, Artists’ Theatre Project) — C’mon, how can we not be curious?

Anna in the Tropics (Nov. 18-Dec. 5, Arizona Theatre Company) — Theater aficionados rejoice! Nilo Cruz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about romance in a cigar factory comes to the Valley in an ATC staging.

A Christmas Carol (Dec. 2-23, Hale Centre Theatre) — Hands down our favorite holiday show, at least until Actors Theatre promises it’ll stop using D. Scott Withers (aka the hellspawn of Robin Williams and Rip Taylor) as the Ghost of Christmas Present.

Nickel and Dimed (Jan. 21-Feb. 6, Actors Theatre) — Barbara Ehrenreich’s nonfiction book about struggling as a wage slave made us angry to the core. But the stageplay, starring “Menopause — The Musical’s” Cathy Dresbach, should douse all that social inequality with lots of wit and enlightenment.

Forbidden Hollywood (Feb. 10, Queen Creek Performing Arts Center) — Because, shhh, we theater folk are secretly jealous of the movie industry. We’ll take all the delicious barbs at classic films and actors this vicious musical satire can dish out. And, no, we won’t see the irony of the show playing in Queen Creek.

Sweet Charity (June 24-July 17, Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre) — We saw this last year over at Theater Works. But we’re lining up for tickets anyway, ’cause we’re suckers for Bob Fosse-inspired choreography and that sultry “Steam Heat.”

Little Shop of Horrors (Aug. 9-14, Gammage Auditorium) — Just as Audrey II craves human blood (ick), we can’t get enough of this campy doo-wop musical about alien plants and nerd love. Feed us, Seymour.