Runaways

Created from interviews with homeless children and those in orphanages, Runaways is a collection of songs, dances and spoken word pieces about personal struggle and the world at large as seen through the eyes of youth in New York City in the ’70s.

Runaways was nominated for five Tony awards (1978) and paved the way for ground-breaking musicals such as Rent. Lin-Manuel Miranda credits Elizabeth Swados (the author) and Runaways for directly influencing him and his work on In the Heights and Hamilton.

Runaways is a unique piece of theatre in that it’s a collection of songs, dances, and spoken-word pieces, performed with no plot or story line and no dialogue. The show was from interviews with real runaway children and even featured runaways in the Broadway production.

This cast is proud to give a voice, energy, courage, and honesty to the invisible. Elizabeth Swados believed that the spoken word in music is gorgeous. We believe this show is gorgeous. This is not a show about blame; it’s a show about listening and understanding. There’s a poem at the end of the show where Olivia tells us, “Make laws against regret, otherwise you’d have to start with Adam and Eve.” Let’s hope that one day we can stop creating a world of runaways.

Thank you to Erin Worden, and a special thank you to Renee Jantz from The Phoenix Day School for the Deaf for being one of the most selfless, giving, and caring people I have ever worked with.

Kenny Grossman, Director