Performance Network’s upcoming fundraiser, “Taste of the Season (Party for the Arty),” is happening all over town April 15-25. Fifteen different theater-themed dinners and special events will be held at local restaurants, private homes and performance spaces. Performance Network is swapping out its usual Gala fundraiser and replacing it with this year’s parties in order to make it more affordable for people to attend, as well as to spice things up a bit, according to Executive Director Carla Milarch.

“We were pretty flexible with the themes (of each event). We wanted to have some kind of theater theme, but an event can also just be theatrical,” Milarch says of the upcoming parties. A number of the parties are based on specific plays or authors. Others are planned around cuisine, drinks and atmosphere inspired by a particular country or culture from around the world. Some of the parties will feature live music or theater, and all of them will create an atmosphere with the menu or drinks.

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Milarch says that although “we had done the Gala for many, many years,” Performance Network — downtown Ann Arbor's professional theater company — decided to nix that event this year for 2 main reasons. “The first thing is that for several years we’ve been looking for a way to include a broader price point in our special events. Our Gala was $125, and that was a little too high for some people, especially now” in our struggling economy, she explains. “We had been really looking for something that could be affordable for more people,” she says.

Depending on what you can spend, you have the option to choose parties that range from $35 to $250 a person. Having a broad price point “allows (participating venues) to cater ticket prices to the type of party,” she says. Many of the events won’t cost you any more cash than you might usually spend on a night out on the town.

“The other thing is that we had gotten feedback from people that we needed to reinvent our fundraiser,” Milarch says. People said, “the gala was kind of the same old, same old. People were really used to it. It wasn’t fresh and new anymore. We decided to go back to the drawing board,” she explains. The events will provide anywhere from 10 to 150 people “with something different than the same old chicken dinner,” she laughs.

Milarch would not be surprised to see some people in costume at a few of the events, but you definitely don’t have to dress up. Each event will have “a comfortable, intimate setting,” she says. “There is no pressure to go out and find a costume and do the whole rigamarole,” but “people are free to dress as theatrically as they want.

Money collected at “Taste of the Season” events will benefit several of Performance Network’s outreach programs. “Children’s Theater Network is 1 program that we are trying to keep alive. It’s very difficult in these economic times with all of the cuts that are being made in schools, in particular their budget for discretionary spending on things like theatrical performances. We are really working hard to keep the prices affordable, so that we can continue to do our outreach to school children.” She feels the same way about securing the future for their Fireside Festival of New Work and their programs to reduce ticket prices to Performance Network plays, including pay-what-you-can performances and free tickets for community organizations.

View a full schedule of Performance Network’s 15 upcoming "Taste of the Season" fundraisers or each individual event’s details below.

Calling All Guys and Dolls! Thursday, April 15, beginning at 6 p.m. at Arbor Brewing Company; $75

A Streetcar to Quarter Bistro Friday, April 16, at noon at the Quarter Bistro; $50

It’s Called...Elmo’s Hideaway - Ole! Friday, April 16, from 6-8 p.m. at Elmo’s Hideaway (under Elmo’s T-shirts); $50

Cabana Havana party Saturday, April 17, from 7:30-10 p.m.; hosted by Stephen and Betty Palms, Ron and Julie Maurer, and Barbara Bach; $50

Bottoms Up from Down Under Sunday, April 18, beginning at 4 p.m.; hosted by Rave Associates owner Marty Friedburg and chef Beth Dugsdale; $60

A la Mode Provence and the Language d’Oc Sunday, April 18, beginning at 5 p.m.; hosted by Phyllis and David Herzig; $125

A Modern Masterpiece Sunday, April 18, beginning at 6 p.m.; hosted by Steve and Shira Klein; $100

The Sins of Sor Juana Monday, April 19, beginning at 6 p.m. at Tio’s Mexican Cafe; $60

Habeas Theatre: an “...and Associates” Affair Monday, April 19, beginning at 7 p.m.; hosted by Judie & Jerry Lax, Ed Stein and Pat McCune, and Ann Cooper; $80

Enchanted April at Vinology Wednesday, April 21, beginning at 6 p.m. in Vinology’s Cellar Room; $60

Traditional Ethiopian Royal Feast Thursday, April 22, beginning at 6 p.m. at Blue Nile Ethiopian Restaurant; $125

Shakespeare in New Orleans Saturday, April 24, from 4-6:30 p.m. at the Quarter Bistro with “opulent international recipes,” by executive chef Ernest Prokos; $125

Drinking the Grapes of Wrath Saturday, April 24, from 5-10 p.m. at the backyard barn of artistic director David Wolber and Wa-Louisa Hubbard; $35

The Baker’s Wife Provencal Picnic Sunday, April 25, from 2-5 p.m.; hosted by Debra and Mike Jett; $50

Drama of Japanese Prints and Theatre of Cuisine Sunday, April 25, beginning at 5:30 p.m. with a Japanese Print Viewing at 6:30 p.m.; hosted by Linda and Richard Greene, with wine from the cellar of Richard and Karen Brown and five-course dinner by Scott MacInnis of Tranche de Vie; $250

Tickets are available for purchase at the Performance Network web site, its box office (120 East Huron Street) or by phone (734-663-0681).

Jennifer Eberbach is a free-lance writer who covers art for AnnArbor.com.