'The Sparrow' shows that it has legs with new revival

Some shows open, get respectable reviews (or not) and then close. And that's it.

But only once in a blue moon a show comes along that is so popular it has a life beyond its first production. The House Theatre's high-spirited "The Sparrow," currently running in previews at the Apollo Theater in Chicago, is such a show.

The show, about a high school student with extraordinary powers, opened in January 2007 at The Viaduct Theatre, the current home for The House Theatre. After seven weeks playing to sold-out houses, "The Sparrow" moved to the Steppenwolf Theatre, where it played for an additional six weeks. Six sold-out weeks, I might add.

Now "The Sparrow" is back. It is being revived for a commercial run, and The House Theatre's artistic director, Nathan Allen, couldn't be more thrilled.

As the show's creator, co-writer and director, Allen's fingerprints are all over this show.

"I grew up on Stephen Spielberg," Allen said. "I wanted to tell a great story, one that was mythic about a character who, like the heroes of the Greek tragedies, was powerful but also dealing with some great flaw."

What Allen, his co-writers, Chris Matthews and Jake Minton, and his energetic ensemble came up with was the story of Emily Book, a small-town high school girl with superhuman powers -- and a dark past.

In that respect, Book is also a lot like the myriad flawed superheroes who appear in Marvel Comics. "Anyone created by Stan Lee," Allen added, "Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men."

And like Lee's Marvel creations, Book proved very popular with audiences -- and with the Jeff Committee, which gave the original intensely visual and physically demanding production seven citations.

"I can't tell you how great this has been," Allen said, "to be able to go back into a production a third time and make those little improvements you wish you could make after you open a show. When we moved the show to Steppenwolf, we were able to add two new scenes. And we are continuing to tighten things up for this new run.

"It is such a luxury," Allen said, "for all of us to be able to spend as much time as we have with these characters and this story."

Based on audience response, Allen is not the only one who feels this way about "The Sparrow."