Actor Michael McKean has plenty to celebrate.

McKean, who audiences associate with his TV work playing Lenny "the Lone Wolf" Kosnowski on "Laverne & Shirley" or zany characters in the ad-lib movie favorites by Christopher Guest such as "This is Spinal Tap" and "Best of Show" has stepped into what he describes as "a role of a lifetime."

He has the lead in Tracy Letts' new play "Superior Donuts," which opened June 19 and has just been extended at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago until Aug. 24.

Letts also has been in a celebratory mood lately after his Steppenwolf Theatre critically acclaimed American play "August: Osage County" won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and five 2008 Tony Awards.

"August: Osage County", which previewed in Chicago, is now attracting a full house each night in New York.

But the concentration right now is on Letts new "Donuts" drama, starring McKean.

"As soon as I was given the script for this play, I knew I wanted to do it," McKean said.

"I was with my wife Annette (O'Toole) in New York when we saw Letts' 'August: Osage County' back in March or April and right then, I said this was a play that would be 'the talk of the town.' So when Letts was ready with this new play, I was excited about it."

McKean said he was equally excited about the chance to spend time back in Chicago working with the Steppenwolf Theatre.

"I've loved and admired the Steppenwolf for a long time," he said.

"I can remember back in 1990 seeing Steppenwolf's 'The Grapes of Wrath' with Lois Smith and Gary Sinise."

In this new play, McKean plays Arthur Przybszewski, who comes from a "salt of the earth" Polish-American family, whose business is running a small donut and coffeeshop on Chicago's North Side in the "transitioning" Uptown neighborhood.

Franco Wicks, played by Jon Michael Hill, is a black teenager who becomes the newest (and in fact, only) employee at the deteriorating eatery.

The shop, aptly named "Superior Donuts," has new competition because of the Starbucks that's just opened across the street.

Working together, both these young and old dreamers struggle to find a compromise that will assure success not only for themselves, but also the donut shop.

Adding to the entertaining stage interaction, audiences also become drawn into clever banter and comic moments that pepper the serious scenes during the production, which runs just more than two hours.

There's Max Tarasov, played by Yasen Peyankov, the neighboring Russian storefront owner who runs an electronics shop next door, as well as the shop's regular customers, Officer James Hailey, played by James Vincent Meredith, and Officer Randy Osteen, played with zest by Kate Buddeke, as well as eccentric and always-a-little-tipsy Lady Boyle, played by Jane Alderman.

McKean emphasizes "Superior Donuts" is a well-told story of personal survival, hinting at today's state of economics and, most of all, hope for a better future.

The production is nestled in a fantastic, distressed set that looks and feels like a true vintage Chicago coffee shop, authentically created by Loy Arcenas.

"Every time I see our set, it makes me think of artist Edward Hopper's diner painting 'Nighthawks,' " McKean said.

Even though McKean, 60, has enjoyed a varied and successful career that has spanned movies, television and the stage, he said it's his theater work that makes him proudest of his profession.

"The theater is a true education, and though I've enjoyed many of the things I've done over the years, this is what I really set out to do," he said.

"I do the stuff that interests me. And often, comedy is a part of what also interests me, because humor is important. If you're watching W.C. Fields in a movie like 'The Bank Dick' and you're not laughing, then you're not living."

McKean isn't just particular about the movie projects he accepts and passes on but also the films he sees.

Most recently, the best film he says he's enjoyed is "WALL-E," which he describes as a family film "with dark moments and laughter, but also hope."

He's not impressed with much of today's television programming, especially reality shows.

"I'd say 98 percent of the TV shows that make it to the air are lousy ideas from the start, and they are anything but real," he said.

He says he stays in close contact with his ABC-TV costars from "Laverne & Shirley," which aired from 1976 to 1983.

"I see Penny Marshall, usually each year around her birthday because her October birthday is close to Carrie Fisher's, and they both usually host a big party together," he said.

"And I just saw Cindy (Williams) recently, and I'm very close with David Lander, who played Squiggy. The friendship you watched on screen was really off-screen, too."