The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Kokandy Productions at Theater Wit, through Aug. 26. If you’re looking for a prime opportunity to laugh at Southern white-trash stereotypes, this show is for you. However, the Chicago premiere of this 2005 off-Broadway musical is more notable for its great performances rather than the so-so script and score. SCM
A Steady Rain, Chicago Commercial Collective at Chicago Dramatists, through Sept. 2. Keith Huff’s tight gritty cop-gone-wrong drama reaped considerable gains from its foray into the big time following its sellout Chicago premiere, but now it’s back in the look-em-in-the-eyes-and-smell-the-sweat bunker where it all began. MSB
Three Sisters, Steppenwolf Theatre, through Aug. 26. Despite a few reservations, I find this production is handsome and heartfelt in a vigorous, clear new English version by Tracy Letts. A fine cast and director Anna D. Shapiro dispel the notion that “nothing happens” in Chekhov. JA
The Vortex, Dead Writers Theatre Collective at Greenhouse Theater Center, through Aug. 26. The melodramatic conclusion may not be as shocking as it was in 1924, but the folks of Dead Writers Theatre Collective create a ravishing production of gay playwright Noel Coward’s first smash hit. SCM
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge
and Morgan