Runaways (musical)
| Runaways | |
|---|---|
| Music | Elizabeth Swados |
| Lyrics | Elizabeth Swados |
| Book | Elizabeth Swados |
| Productions | 1978 Off-Broadway 1978 Broadway 2016 Encores! Off-Center |
Runaways is a musical which was written, composed and directed by Elizabeth Swados, about the lives of children who run away from home and live on the city streets. The characters were taken from workshops conducted by Swados with real-life runaways in the late 1970s.
Swados took her idea for a musical with the theme of running away "from home, from a boyfriend, from a predator,... from yourself" to Joseph Papp, who agreed to produce it. She looked for the children who would be in the musical in various places in New York City, such as a community center, and "little by little, we built a world where runaways came together, told their stories, and acted out the hardships they endured." Swados did research for her project as she gathered the cast, and some in the cast were actual runaways. The show was done in a series of songs, monologues, scenes, poems, and dances.
The musical premiered off-Broadway on February 21st, 1978 at the Public Theater Cabaret as presented by the New York Shakespeare Festival. It moved to Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre on May 13th, 1978 and closed on December 31st, 1978 after 12 previews and 274 performances. The director and choreographer was Elizabeth Swados, with scenic design by Douglas W. Schmidt and Woods Mackintosh, costume design by Hilary Rosenfeld, and lighting design by Jennifer Tipton. In 2007, a re-worked concert version of the show produced by Jamie McGonnigal and directed by Rodney Hicks played at Joe's Pub. The orchestra consisted of Piano and Toy Piano, String Bass, Congas, Timbales, Bongos, Bell Sirens and Others, Trap Set, Triangle, Glass and Ratchet, Saxophone and Flutes, and Guitar (played by Elizabeth Swados).
The musical was presented in 2016 as part of New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center's concert series. It was done under the artistic direction of Jeanine Tesori and the direction of Sam Pinkleton. It was performed July 6 to 9, with a cast of 25 young performers between the ages of 12-20: Frenie Acoba, Sumaya Bouhbal, Kenneth Cabral, Maxwell Cabral, Taylor Caldwell, Sophia Anne Caruso, Xavier Casimir, Joshua DeJesus, Adleesa Edwards, Aidan Gemme, Reyna Guerra, Matthew Gumley, Christina Jimenez, Kylie McNeill, Cele Pahucki, Sam Poon, Siena Rafter, Claudia Ramirez, Ren, MJ Rodriguez, Deandre Sevon, Jeremy Shinder, Ripley Sobo, Chris Sumpter and Maxwell Vice. It should be noted that Elizabeth Swados was supposed to have been involved with this production, had she not died earlier in 2016. Tesori said: "Since we can’t do 'Runaways' with her, we’ll now do it for her."
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