Runaways
OPENING: May 13, 1978
CLOSING: December 31, 1978
Seen: November 1978
LOCATION: Plymouth Theater
Have you ever wanted to run away?
I think at some point we all have. When you’re stuck in situation of some sort and you just want to be somewhere else.
Elizabeth Swados ran away from home for the first time when she was five years old. It was meant to be a grand escape, but she only made it a few blocks to her aunt’s house. For a five-year-old, I guess you can call it a successful attempt. But the idea was there; her life from that point on was a fairly nomadic one as she was always exploring the world around her.
As a theatre artist myself, I can relate to this need to experience the world firsthand. This curiosity about running away ate away at Swados, much like a certain period of history is eating away at me and the badass editor of this blog, Stacey. So when curiosity about something eats away at a theater artist like this, what happens?
Musicals get written, that’s what.
In Swados’s case, she kept it simple. She simply called it “Runaways”.
In May of 1977, Swados approached Joseph Papp with an idea. She wanted to explore what she called “the profound effects of our deteriorating families”. (Guide to Musical Theatre). If there was any musical theater trend that came out of the 70s, it was the Interview Musical, brought to popularity by A Chorus Line. Papp, in his eternal quest to bring new and edgy theater to New York, agreed.
Over the course of the next year, Swados did nothing but interview and write. She interviewed as many young people as she could, documenting their stories and putting many of them to music. By 1978, with a cast that was created from a process that more resembled a 9-5 job instead of a traditional audition, she had assembled a multi-racial cast of young people between the ages of 11-25 and got to work with putting Runaways on its feet.
The premise of the show was simple: to explore the urge to run away, whether it be in the literal sense or in the mental sense. There were songs and monologues about living on the streets to escape abusive parents and there were songs and monologues about mentally disengaging during family engagements in wealthy neighborhoods.
Theatre Kids, I hope you are noticing what was truly remarkable about the process I just described above.
She did it completely on her own.
To date, I have produced two full lengths at the college level, two ten minute pieces at the festival level, and a short film and the process is exhausting. And while I wrote the film, festival pieces, and one of the full lengths, I cannot imagine proposing, writing, producing, directing, and choreographing something like this – especially at the Off Broadway/Broadway level.
Runaways opened at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater Cabaret (Now known as Joe’s Pub) on March 9th, 1978. It was less than a year after Swados approached Papp about even taking on the project. And then, on May 13, 1978, it opened on Broadway.
The production was well received. It most definitely had undertones of A Chorus Line and even had shoutouts to Hair to honor Papp and the legacy he was still creating. Four of them (FOUR!) were for Swados. Best Book, Best Score, Best Direction, and Best Choreography. The fifth was for Best Musical. It did not win any of them but I cannot think of any other individual in Broadway history who was nominated for four awards in the same Production. The show lasted for just under eight months.
Out of the nineteen cast members, only one solidified herself in the entertainment industry. Jossie De Guzman was a music student before being cast in Runaways. After the run of the show, she returned to Broadway as Maria in West Side Story and Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls. She would nominated for Tony’s for both. These opportunities may not have been possible without the chance she got as a young performer in Runaways.
But one question remains: If Swados could pull this off, why don’t more people know about her?
The only answer I have for this is that it was the 70s and like the rest of the entertainment industry, it was still very much a boys club. Swados was a 27 year old female; despite her incredible accomplishment, she was over looked because of this. She went on to create and produce several more shows over the course of her career, but none reached the same level of accomplishment that Runaways did. She died in 2016 due to complications with cancer.
But her legacy lives on. While Swados never fully got the recognition she so rightly deserves, there was a young someone who made her way to the Public in 1978 and saw the original run of Runaways and was blown away by it.
Her name is Jeanine Tesori. She is the visionary behind the 2015 smash hit Fun Home. She and her partner Lisa Kron made history by becoming the first female writing team to take home a Tony for Best Score. At the time of her win, she was actually mounting a revival of Runaways at Encores! as her final production there as artistic director. Swados was thrilled that the piece was getting a second life and guided Tesori as she brought it to life. Unfortunately, she did not live to see opening night. But again, the show was a hit. It transferred back to the Public two years after the run at Encores!.
Another follower and admirer of Swados? Lin Manuel Miranda. He performed in a production of Runaways while he was a student of Wesleyan.
I think that Elizabeth Swados was ahead of her time. She was clearly a thinker and someone who just needed to explore themes that interested her. Had she been mounting Runaways today, in 2023, I believe that she would have had much more support and she would have been hailed as a genius. Just like Chicago – the world wasn’t ready for her.
But one thing is for sure – the theater world needed her. And for that, we should be grateful that she shared her talents with us.
CAST: REPLACEMENT
HUBBELL: Bruce Hlibok
INTERPRETER FOR HUBBELL: Lorie Robinson
A.J.: Carlo Imperato
JACKIE: Rachael Kelly
LUIS: Ray Contreras
NIKKI KAY KANE: Sheila Gibbs
LIDIA: Jossie De Guzman
MANNY: Randy Ruiz
EDDIE: Jon Matthews
SUNDAR: Darrell Brown
ROBY: Venustra K. Robinson
LAZAR: David Schecter
ERIC: Evan H. Miranda
JANE: Kate Schellenbach
JUNIOR: Michael J. Miller
EZ: Leonard D. Brown
MEX-MONGO: Mark Anthony Butler
MELINDA: Rosemarie Lanziero
DEIRDRE: Paula Anderson
IGGY: Paul McCrane
CHORUS: Kenya Brome, Jerome Dekie, Karin Dekie, Lisa Dekie, John Gallogly, Dee Dee Smith
UNDERSTUDIES: Michele Dagavarian, Jerome Dekie, Katherine Diamond, C.S. Hayward, Michael Laylor, Paul McCrane, Michael Miller Jr, Nicholas Orick, Margie Perez, Kate Schellenbach, Dee Dee Smith.
Bordman, Gerald. “American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle.” New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1978.
Clement, Olivia. “The Public Theater Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Runaways With Central Park Gala Performance.” Playbill, June 11, 2018. https://www.playbill.com/article/the-public-theater-celebrates-40th-anniversary-of-runaways-with-central-park-gala-performance
Gussow, Mel. “Elizabeth Swados A Runaway Talent”. New York Times, March 5, 1978. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/05/archives/elizabeth-swados-a-runaway-talent-this-27yearold-composer-has.html?searchResultPosition=6
The Guide to Musical Theatre. “Runaways”. Accessed April 2023. http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_r/runaways_swados.htm
Viagas, Robert. “7 Things You Need to Know About Runaways.” Playbill, July 3, 2016. https://www.playbill.com/article/7-things-you-need-to-know-about-runaways
