Starry summer marks the return of Chicago-area theater vets

In addition to the world and regional premieres lighting up Chicago-area stages, including Writers Theatre’s production of “Leopoldstadt,” which playwright Tom Stoppard revised especially for the North Shore theater, this summer marks the return of Emmy Award winners Megan Mullally and her husband, Nick Offerman.

Mullally and Offerman both began their professional careers here: Offerman as member of the Defiant Theatre, which he founded with fellow University of Illinois grads in 1993, and Mullally in the 1979 production of “Bagtime,” directed by Robert Falls and co-starring Northlight Theatre artistic director BJ Jones.

The couple return for Goodman Theatre’s premiere of the tuner “Iceboy!” an irreverent version about the inspiration for Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh.” Meanwhile, longtime Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member Gary Cole co-stars in the company’s premiere of “Catch as Catch Can.”

This summer also includes Marriott Theatre’s revival of the Stephen Sondheim classic “A Little Night Music” and a production of “Hair” by Kokandy Productions, the hotter-than-hot off-Loop ensemble that remounts its hit production of “Jekyll & Hyde” at Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse in the fall.

Here’s a look at some of the shows heating up suburban and city stages over the next few months.

“Brokeback Mountain,” runs through June 28, at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago, (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com. Chicago Shakespeare Theater stages the North American premiere of “Brokeback Mountain.” Adapted from Annie Proulx’s novella, the 1963-set story centers on two ranch hands who fall in love herding sheep on the slopes of a remote mountain and spend the next two decades having an illicit affair. Jonathan Butterell directs Ashley Robinson’s adaptation, which stars Harrison Ball as Ennis Del Mar and Jack Cameron Kay as Jack Twist.

“Leopoldstadt,” June 4-July 19, at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org. Writers concludes its season with Tom Stoppard’s epic family drama “Leopoldstadt,” which the playwright and director Carey Perloff revised for the North Shore company. The largest production in the theater’s history with 29 characters, the sprawling tale follows the members of a wealthy Jewish family over more than 50 years, from 1899 through both World Wars.

“Catch as Catch Can,” June 4-July 12, at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago, (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org. Steppenwolf Theatre’s Chicago premiere is a homecoming for ensemble members Gary Cole (“NCIS,” “VEEP,” “The West Wing”), Audrey Francis and Tim Hopper, who join fellow ensemble member and director Amy Morton for Mia Chung’s three-hander about a prodigal son whose return upends two families.

“A Little Night Music,” June 17-Aug. 9, at Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, (847) 634-0200 or marriotttheatre.com. Nick Bowling helms Marriott Theatre’s revival of the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical. Inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s film “Smiles of a Summer Night,” the musical examines the romantic entanglements of several mismatched couples in early 20th-century Sweden.

“Iceboy! Or the Completely Untrue Story of How Eugene O’Neill Came to Write the Iceman Cometh,” June 20-July 26, at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, (312) 443-3800 or GoodmanTheatre.org/Iceboy. Megan Mullally (“Will & Grace”) and Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation”) star in the world premiere of this musical by composer/lyricist Mark Hollman (“Urinetown the Musical”), writer/lyricist Jay Reiss (“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”) and book writer Erin Quinn Purcell. Mullally plays Vera Vim, a 1930s Broadway star who discovers a frozen, 40,000-year-old Neanderthal dubbed Iceboy, who unexpectedly inspires playwright Eugene O’Neill (Offerman). Marc Bruni (“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”) directs.

“Hair,” July 2-Sept. 13, Kokandy Productions at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago, Kokandyproductions.com. Kokandy goes retro with its revival of the tribal love rock musical consisting of vignettes examining the political upheaval, generational conflict, and sexual and drug experimentation that defined 1960s counterculture. It centers on Vietnam War draftee Claude, who experiences several eye-opening days with a group of free-lovin’ hippies living in New York City’s Central Park.

“Suffs,” July 7-19, at CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St., Chicago, BroadwayInChicago.com. The national tour of “Suffs,” Shaina Taub’s musical about the women’s suffrage movement and women like Alice Paul and Chicago’s own Ida B. Wells who led it, stops in Chicago for a limited run. Chicago theater veteran Marya Grandy plays women’s suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt in the production.

“The Outsiders,” Aug. 4-16, at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago, BroadwayInChicago.com. Also making a brief stop in Chicago is the Tony Award-winning coming-of-age tuner “The Outsiders.” Adapted from S.E. Hinton’s novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film, the musical — by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Justin Levine and writers Adam Rapp and Levine — centers on the battles between the outsider “Greasers” and the “Socs,” their more affluent rivals.

“Adolescent Salvation,” Aug. 14-Oct. 4, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, (773) 975-8150 or theaterwit.org. Over the course of a booze-fueled night, three teenagers goad each other to the edge of danger in “Adolescent Salvation,” Tim Venable’s depiction of adolescence in all its sloppy, human glory. Theater Wit’s production marks the play’s Chicago premiere.