Theater - Runaways

Music, lyrics and libretto by Elizabeth Swados

 

 

 

 

Like A Chorus Line, Runaways was first produced as Joe Papp's Publice Theatre. And like A Chorus Line it is essentially a chamber musical allowing a collection of people to come forward with their histories and personal problems. This 1978 musical recounts the often humorous, often harrowing experiences of children who have run away from home. Their highly individual stories bring the characters together with a freshness and roughness rarely encountered in the contemporary musical theater.  The score includes an hilarious satiric number called “Where Are Those People Who Did ‘Hair'?” as well as several memorable songs. The New York Times critic labeled the piece a “musical collage” and wrote: “Elizabeth Swados makes us eavesdrop on the sufferings of children.  That sounds ominous but it isn't… The calligraphy of childhood is one of the wonders of nature even when the message it writes is heartbreaking.”

 

NOTE: This production was the first musical production at Wabash College in over ten years.

 

This page is part of an ongoing project to document the history of the theatre productions performed at Wabash College.  If you have information not included on this page, please contact the Theater Department or Professor Dwight Watson (watsond@wabash.edu).