After a customary late-May lull, Chicago’s theater gets back into action in June with several lively summer offerings, ranging from new musicals with star-encrusted casts to an in-the-round Sondheim to an experimental vampire show. Here’s our annual alphabetical list of 10 of the most promising warm-weather attractions to help you plan your theatergoing around those farmers’ markets and long evenings outdoors. Summer is no longer a down season in Chicago theater; you’ll often find within its boundaries some of the biggest shows of the year.
“Brokeback Mountain”
Ang Lee’s widely acclaimed 2005 movie became famous not just for one strikingly succinct line — “I wish I knew how to quit you — but for its potent depiction of a great love between two cowboys, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), in the American West between 1963 and 1983. But this world premiere from writer Ashley Robinson at Chicago Shakespeare Theater actually is based on the source novella by Annie Proulx. It’s billed as a 90-minute play with music rather than a full-blown musical, but expect a live country-western band onstage playing original songs by Dan Gillespie Sells. Directed by Jonathan Butterell, “Brokeback Mountain” stars Harrison Ball and Jack Cameron Kay. A future beyond Chicago is likely. May 28 to June 28 in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 800 E. Grand Ave.; www.chicagoshakes.com
“Catch as Catch Can”
Amy Morton returns to the director’s chair to helm Mia Chung’s complex off-Broadway play from 2018. It’s about two New England families upended by a son’s engagement to a Korean American woman, and explores both the inaccuracy of racial tropes, the resilience of inflexible family roles and the tendency for children to echo their parents’ views. The cast plays multiple roles (a much remarked upon feature of the play in prior productions) and includes ensemble members Gary Cole, Audrey Francis and Tim Hopper. June 4 to July 12 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.; www.steppenwolf.org
“Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical”
Last year’s Kokandy Productions musical, “Jekyll and Hyde,” was such a blast that it is being restaged this fall as part of the subscription season at Broadway in Chicago. This year, the overachieving non-Equity company is staging the famed 1960s tribal rock musical — in my experience, much harder to pull off than many directors expect. “Hair” has many Chicago connections, having been produced by Michael Butler all those years ago, and there was also a 2014 staging by American Theater Company that used a restored and revised version, and that lives on in my mind. This summer, director Brennan Urbi is the one getting all groovy with a young cast of emerging talent. July 2 to Sept. 13 at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St.; kokandyproductions.org
“Iceboy!”
A marquee attraction of the Chicago summer, due to Chicago-actor-made-good Nick Offerman and “Will & Grace” star Megan Mullally in the lead roles, is a new satirical musical with a score by Mark Hollmann (“Urinetown”), lyrics by Hollmann and Jay Reiss and a book by Erin Quinn Purcell and Reiss. It’s billed as “The Completely Untrue Story of How Eugene O’Neill Came to Write ‘The Iceman Cometh.'” Offerman plays O’Neill himself; Mullally plays Broadway’s “brightest star of 1938,” Vera Vimm. Director Marc Bruni helms a show with its eye on Broadway. (Note: Offerman will not appear June 20-24.) June 20 to July 26 at the Goodman’s Albert Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; www.goodmantheatre.org
“Improv Supernova”
Last winter, Second City departed from decades of tradition by seemingly to replace its longstanding Second City e.t.c. revue (ground zero for the likes of Keegan-Michael Key and Jack McBrayer) with an improv-driven show. That show never had an official press opening, but it finally gets one this summer following a more formal process when it morphs (or maybe not) into something a bit closer to a traditional e.t.c revue. Who knows if even the title will stick? Either way, Anne Libera, a seasoned Second City veteran, is at the helm of what will be the 50th Second City e.t.c. revue. Open run from June 25 at Second City e.t.c., 1608 N. Wells St. in Piper’s Alley; www.secondcity.com
“Leopoldstadt”
By far the most expensive and ambitious production Writers Theatre has staged, this is the long-awaited Chicago premiere of Tom Stoppard’s final (and, for my money, most revelatory) play focused on a Jewish family whose Viennese lives of cultural and art are upended by the arrival of the Nazis and the Anschluss. Stoppard confidante Carey Perloff directs a huge cast of Chicago actors, including such local stars as Kate Fry, Andrew Mueller, Ian Barford, Sean Fortunato, Joey Slotnick and Barbara E. Robertson, all of whom have been dying to take on this formidable play. Expect tickets to sell fast. Those of us who saw this show in New York will be more than ready to see it again, especially in so intimate a crucible. June 4 to July 19 at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe; www.writerstheatre.org
“A Little Night Music”
Rarely does the populist Marriott Theatre do legit Stephen Sondheim. Even more rarely does it cast a group like Alexandra Silber (fabulous in “The Music Man”), Carmen Roman, Kelli Harrington and Colette Todd, not to mention Joel Gelman and Alan H. Green. We Sondheim fans can’t wait for another Chicago look at this one, especially since this gorgeously scored piece, inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s film “Smiles of a Summer Night,” is perfect for an in-the-round staging. Hugh Wheeler wrote the book, of course. And Nick Bowling directs. June 17 to Aug. 9 at the Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire; www.marriotttheatre.com
“Mean Girls”
Despite some recent financial travails, the Paramount Theatre in downtown Aurora still knocks out affordably priced productions of Broadway titles with comparable production levels. This back-to-school show, ideal for ‘tweens and teens ready to move up a grade and with movie quotes at their fingertips, is a new production of the 2018 Broadway musical written by Tina Fey (based on her own movie), and composed by her husband, former Second City maestro Jeff Richmond. As you likely know, it is set among the cliques and geeks of a fictional high school that looks a lot like north suburban New Trier. Aug. 26 to Oct. 11 at Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora; www.paramountaurora.com
“Suffs”
This summer sees a short Chicago stand for the first national tour (with a union cast, thank heavens) of Shaina Taub’s 2024 Broadway musical charting the history of women’s suffrage in the United States, leading up to the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Aside from its “Liberation”-style feminist fervor and its educational component when it comes to U.S. history, this is also a moving and humanizing piece that offers a rich and powerful experience. Broadway seats were filled with many moms and daughters, although all could enjoy. July 7-19 at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St.; www.broadwayinchicago.com
“Untitled Vampire Play”
With David Schwimmer re-engaged on the development and marketing fronts and Lookingglass Theatre’s Water Tower Pumping Station home on Michigan Avenue recently refurbished, thanks to a timely state grant, Lookingglass is seeing a renaissance in its fortunes. Although it has been producing much less often in recent years, this ensemble-driven theater remains a vital presence on the city’s theater scene, not least due to its determination to produce risky original work. Billed as a romantic comedy meets horror story, “Untitled Vampire Play” is an all-new summer show, as penned by Kevin Douglas and directed by Devon deMayo. You are invited to sink your teeth into what the title suggests is an uncharted experience. June 4 to July 12 at Lookingglass Theatre, 163 E. Pearson St (the new address reflects the new entrance); lookingglasstheatre.org
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
