Fall theater preview: Dolly's back, Poirot's on the case and Jeeves is in charge

It's not officially fall yet, but many suburban theaters' seasons are already in full swing with productions ranging from well-loved musicals featuring assertive females to contemporary dramas about race and assimilation. Northlight Theatre's buddy comedy about a pair of sanitation workers, Theo Ubique's bilingual immigration tale and First Folio Theatre's remount of the 2008 farce that inaugurated its much-loved series Wooster and Jeeves series are among the season's highlights.

'Hello, Dolly!'

Runs through Oct. 16 at Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, (847) 634-0200, marriotttheatre.com/

Chicago-area favorite Heidi Kettenring stars as the titular matchmaker in Marriott Theatre's revival of “Hello, Dolly!” featuring her husband, David C. Girolmo, as the irascible Horace Vandergelder, who hires Dolly to find him a wife. Can't wait to see director/choreographer Denis Jones' take on the always entertaining “Waiters' Gallop.”

'Dreamgirls'

Runs through Oct. 16 at Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, (630) 896-6666, paramountaurora.com/

A Supremes-inspired pop music parable chronicling the personal and artistic compromises young singers make on the road to stardom, “Dreamgirls” has an operatic first act finale that rivals just about any ever composed. Chicago native Christopher D. Betts makes his hometown directorial debut in Paramount Theatre's revival.

'Murder on the Orient Express'

Runs through Oct. 23 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, (630) 530-0111, drurylanetheatre.com/

Larry Yando returns to the Oakbrook Terrace theater after nearly 30 years to star as master detective Hercule Poirot in Drury Lane Theatre's revival of “Murder on the Orient Express,” Agatha Christie's whodunit about a murder on a snowbound train. Jessica Fisch directs.

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Runs through Oct. 2 at Northlight Theatre, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, (847) 673-6300, northlight.org/

Northlight Theatre opens its season with Lindsay Joelle's buddy comedy about a blue-collar white guy and an Ivy League-educated Black woman who work as New York City garbage collectors. Chicago native Tiffany Renee Johnson makes her Northlight debut as Marlowe and Luigi Sottile returns to the Skokie theater to play Danny.

'Clybourne Park'

Sept. 8-Oct. 9 at Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn, (630) 942-4000, atthemac.org/

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble's season begins with “Clybourne Park,” Bruce Norris' unflinching companion piece to Lorraine Hansberry's seminal play “A Raisin in the Sun” that examines the legacy of discrimination, assimilation and appropriation.

'Tiger Style!'

Sept. 29-Oct. 30 at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, (847) 242-6000, writerstheatre.org/

Writers Theatre's upcoming season commences with “Tiger Style,” Mike Lew's comedy skewering Asian American cultural stereotypes. The action centers on siblings Albert and Jennifer Chen, who overachieved as children but failed to find professional or personal fulfillment as adults.

'BULL: A Love Story'

Oct. 5-Nov. 20 at Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, (630) 896-6666, paramountaurora.com/bold/

Introduced earlier this year, Paramount Theatre's Bold Series, consisting of intimate dramas and chamber musicals staged at the 165-seat Copley Theatre, got off to a great start. Now, after three stellar productions, the inaugural season concludes with the premiere of “BULL: A Love Story,” a drama about an ex-con who returns from prison to his Lakeview home to find his friends and family have moved on. Nancy García Loza's play, which will be featured this fall during the fifth Destinos Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, is the second work developed through Paramount's Inception Project initiative to support BIPOC playwrights.

'Refuge'

Oct. 7-Nov. 13 at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, 721 Howard St., Evanston, (773) 939-4101, theo-u.com/

Theo Ubique commences its 25th anniversary season and honors Evanston's growing Latino community by staging the Midwest premiere of “Refuge,” a bilingual, multidisciplinary play with music and puppetry that chronicles a Honduran girl's harrowing journey to the United States.

'Jeeves Intervenes'

Nov. 2-Dec. 4 at First Folio Theatre, Mayslake Peabody Estate, 1717 31st St., Oak Brook, (630) 986-8067, firstfolio.org/

First Folio Theatre begins its final season with a remount of “Jeeves Intervenes,” Margaret Raether's adaptation of “Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg,” P.G. Wodehouse's wry comedy of manners in which unflappable butler Jeeves helps extricate his affably idle aristocratic employer Bertie Wooster out of his latest scrape. Jim McCance and Christian Gray reprise the roles of Jeeves and Wooster, which they brilliantly played in five First Folio adaptations, including the 2008 production that introduced the series.