BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
Route 66 Theatre Company artistic director and actor Stef Tovar knew that Caitlin Montanye Parrish's drama A Twist of Water was special. But he had no idea how wildly successful her drama would become during its limited run earlier this season at Theater Wit.
First developed via About Face Theatre's xyz Festival, A Twist of Water is Chicago-set drama about a recently widowed gay father and his adopted teenage African-American daughter. A rupture develops between the two when she decides to seek her birth mother while he is still in the process of grieving.
The Route 66 Theatre world-premiere production opened to rave reviews, importantly pleasing Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones, who wrote that A Twist of Water "reaches with more passion, wisdom and lyricism towards civic definition than any Chicago work I've seen." Jones also used his review to pressure Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel to see the celebratory Chicago-centric show.
So when word got out that Emanuel attended the show a couple of days later (as just a regular audience member instead of a political photo opportunity), the ensuing publicity helped A Twist of Water to become a topic of conversation around town and a hard-to-get ticket. A Twist of Water was extended due to demand, but even then there were audiences who still had to be turned away at performances.
However, now A Twist of Water is set to make a return engagement, reopening the recently renovated Mercury Theatre under the new management of executive director L. Walter Stearns (who is leaving his current post as Porchlight Music Theatre's artistic director at the end of this season).
"It was important to open very quickly after the Theater Wit run with all the momentum behind it," said Stearns, who is also in the midst of directing The King and I, Porchlight Music Theatre's first-ever production of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
Stearns fell in love with A Twist of Water when he saw it late in the run. The fact that Stearns was able to see for himself how many people Route 66 had to turn away at the performance he attended gave him the confidence that A Twist of Water would be the perfect show to reopen the Mercury.
For Stearns, A Twist of Water features "a new Chicago voice, and I like the idea that the Mercury Theatre can be a home to tell our local stories."
Stearns was also happy to see how inclusive A Twist of Water was for the LGBT community, since it touches upon the hot-button issues of domestic partner benefits and adoption issues.
"It's been a tidal wave and we've just been trying to catch up," said Tovar, who not only produced the original run of A Twist of Water for Route 66, but also appeared in the play as the grief-stricken father, Noah.
Tovar was surprised at the unexpected success and overwhelming popularity of A Twist of Water, and he's very happy that audiences will have an extended window of opportunity to see it again.
"This play is very much the creators' love letter to the city that embraced them," Tovar said. "We knew the script itself would be special, but we never expected the kind of success we had with this world premiere."
Route 66 Theatre Company's A Twist of Water reopens in previews at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport, beginning April 14, with a press opening May 1. Performances continue at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays tentatively through June 5. Preview tickets are $38.50 and $38.50 to $44.50 for the regular run. Visit www.mercurytheaterchicago.com or call 773-325-1700 for more information.