Black ties and dresses took over the town tonight as the Lyceum Theatre started another season.

"Hey, we'll be a small town in a big city style, New York City style or something," said Lisa Smith, business owner.

The Arrow Rock Lyceum is serving up red carpet fare this year on opening night and driving theatre goers in limousines to an after-show party.

"People don't realize the caliber of shows they will see when they come here," said Jessica Clements, Lyceum Theater marketing director. "We hold auditions here in Arrow Rock, also in Columbia, Kansas City, St. Louis and also for a week and a half in New York"

Getting attention has been a hurdle, especially from neighboring towns.

"There are people who live ten, fifteen miles from Arrow Rock and don't know about it even though we advertise and things," said Clements. "The places that most people would think would be where we're drawing our audience from, we really don't have much of a base, so we're trying to kind of get the word out."

New audiences mean more businesses.

"We have lots of customers from the Lyceum; we have repeat customers, we have new customers, we have people who come here to shop and go to the theater," said Mary Roe, Arrow Rock resident.

For the rest of the town, another theater season is always something to be excited about. The lyceum is kicking off the season with Stephen Sondheim's fractured fairytale musical, "Into the Woods."