Jack W. Batman had a tough act to follow: His own.

In the first year of Batman’s reimagined White Plains Performing Arts Center, the producer presented “Man of la Mancha,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Ragtime” and, tonight, finishes the season with “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

Season 2 will begin with a “spotlight musical” – a small-scale presentation of a big musical, similar to this season’s “Ragtime.”

The show is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita,” with a two-weekend, eight performance run beginning Sept. 26. “Evita” is separate from the mainstage season and gives Batman and team the opportunity to branch out from classic Broadway to anything that strikes their fancy.

“If we want to do something that’s not a classic musical or something that’s Off-Broadway that we like, or an operetta, we can do it as a spotlight musical, a smaller-scale production,” he says.

On the mainstage, the producer is giving his growing audience a taste of everything:—A family friendly show for the holidays “Oliver!” in a four-week run from Nov. 20 through Dec. 14;—The more sophisticated “A Little Night Music” from March 5 through 22;—And the blockbuster “Hello, Dolly!” April 30 through May 17.

“I really gave this a lot of thought because we are so close to the city and there are restrictions put on us in terms of getting the rights to do shows. It’s a trick and you have to act fast sometimes,” he says.

In questionnaires, audience members asked for shows that were still running on Broadway, or those which had national tours or were headed back to Broadway. None of those was an option.And he didn’t want to do the brand-new shows that are just opening up after Broadway runs.

“I want to leave the new shows to Bob (Funking) and Bill (Stutler) at the (Westchester Broadway) dinner theater,” he says. “They want to do ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ and they want to do ‘The Producers,’ and that’s great. We’ll do the classics and they’ll do the others and it’ll be a great symbiosis of the two theaters.”

“A Little Night Music” hasn’t been available for years in New York because there has been talk of a Broadway revival. There was a tiny window between when the rights were held and when they were picked up again.

“I slipped in and grabbed them. When the opportunity presented itself, I thought ‘This is a show that I adore.’ I couldn’t let it pass. A lot of people asked for Sondheim. And everybody knows ‘Send in the Clowns.’”

A show like that helps put White Plains on the theatrical map.

“This is the perfect spot,” he says. “The town is ready, it’s growing. There’s so much going on with the renaissance of this town and people are moving here and they can’t live on movies. And to have a place where I can do mini versions of musical is remarkable.”

Batman has been drawing on significant corporate support, with banks and developers and energy companies stepping forward to bring “quarter-million-dollar musicals” to the stage.

“They all are positive about why we’re here and our value to the community,” he says.

Only a third of the costs are met by ticket sales, he says.

“We’re rolling along here,” he says. “I hope it’s appealing to our audience and I am optimistic that we can grow our 800 very loyal subscribers into 1,600 very loyal subscribers.”

“HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING”
Where:White Plains Performing Arts Center, 11 City Place, White Plains. (At the corner of Main Street and Mamaroneck Avenue.)
When: Weekends through May 11. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $50 and $60.
Call: 914-328-1600.
Web: www.wppac.com.