Elizabeth Swados facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Swados
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Swados rehearsing in New York City, 1978
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| Background information | |
| Born | February 5, 1951 Buffalo, New York, United States |
| Died | January 5, 2016 (aged 64) |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, composer, musician, theatre director |
Elizabeth Swados (born February 5, 1951 – died January 5, 2016) was an amazing American writer, composer, musician, and theatre director. She was known for creating unique and powerful stage shows. Elizabeth Swados was nominated for many important awards, including several Tony Awards for her work on musicals. She was also nominated for Drama Desk Awards. In 1978, she won an Obie Award for directing her musical Runaways. Later, in 1980, she received a special honorary degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
Life Story
Elizabeth Swados was born on February 5, 1951, in Buffalo, New York. Her father, Robert O. Swados, was a successful lawyer. Her mother was an actress and a poet. Elizabeth also had an older brother named Lincoln.
In 1991, Elizabeth Swados wrote a book about her family called The Four of Us, A Family Memoir. She also openly discussed her own experiences with depression in her book, My Depression: A Picture Book, which was published in 2014. This book was later made into an animated film.
Elizabeth Swados passed away on January 5, 2016, at the age of 64.
Her Amazing Career
Elizabeth Swados studied music and creative writing at Bennington College in Vermont. She earned her degree in 1973. While in college, she met Ellen Stewart and started working with the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City.
Working with Ellen Stewart and Andrei Serban, Elizabeth helped create a new way of telling stories on stage. She used sounds, rhythms, and movements instead of just spoken words. Her music for plays like Fragments of a Greek Trilogy and Conference of the Birds changed how music was used in theatre around the world.
In 1977, a short film called The Girl with the Incredible Feeling was made about her. The film's title came from a children's book she wrote and illustrated in 1975. It showed parts of her performances and even animated her drawings.
Even though many of Elizabeth's works were musicals, her music was inspired by folk and world music. This made her style different from typical musical theatre.
Her first big success on Broadway was Runaways. This show was about young people who had run away from home. It started at The Public Theater and then moved to Broadway in May 1978. Elizabeth also worked with Garry Trudeau on the musical Doonesbury, which opened on Broadway in 1983. She also composed music for films, like Four Friends (1981), and for television. She even performed live at famous places like Carnegie Hall.
Elizabeth Swados also made guest appearances on several popular TV shows called soap operas. She published three novels, three non-fiction books, and nine children's books. Her book My Depression: A Picture Book was turned into an animated short film in 2014. Famous actors like Sigourney Weaver and Steve Buscemi lent their voices to the film. After her death, her final novel, Walking The Dog, was published in 2016.
Elizabeth Swados received many special awards and grants throughout her career. She also taught drama at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and at The New School. Her articles were featured in well-known magazines and newspapers like The New York Times and Vogue.
After Elizabeth passed away in 2016, the actress Diane Lane created a special grant to honor her. This grant helps arts educators. Diane Lane and Elizabeth Swados had worked together on plays like Medea and Runaways many years before.
In July 2016, Runaways was brought back to the stage by the New York City Center. This showed how important and lasting Elizabeth Swados's work was. In 2020, an album called The Liz Swados Project was released. It featured many artists honoring her unique musical style.
Selected Works
- Shekhina (1971; La MaMa)
- Medea (1972; La MaMa)
- Fragments of a Trilogy/Trilogy/Trojan Women (1974; La MaMa)
- Crow (1974; La MaMa)
- Jilsa (1974; La MaMa)
- The Good Woman of Setzuan (1975; La MaMa)
- Jumpin's Salty (1975; Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective)
- Nightclub Cantata (1977; Village Gate)
- Runaways (1978; Obie Award winner)
- Dispatches, a Rock & Roll War (1979)
- As You Like It (1980; La MaMa)
- Alice in Concert (1980)
- The Haggadah, a Passover Cantata (1980)
- The Three Travels of Aladin with the Magic Lamp (1982; La MaMa)
- Enter Life (1982; animated film)
- Lullabye and Goodnight (1982)
- Doonesbury: A Musical Comedy (1983)
- The Killing Floor (1984; television film)
- Rap Master Ronnie (1984)
- Jerusalem (1983/1984; La MaMa)
- Mythos Oedipus (1985; La MaMa)
- Religious Revelry - Esther: A Vaudeville Megillah (1988)
- The Red Sneaks (1989)
- Jonah (1990)
- Groundhog (1992)
- Conscience and Courage Cantata (1994)
- Jabu (2005)
- The Beauty Inside (2005)
- Missionaries in Concert (2005)
- Mental Missiles (2006)
- Spider Opera (2006)
- Kaspar Hauser: A Foundling's Opera (2009; Flea Theater)
- The Great Divorce (2007)
- Books Cook (2010; Atlantic Theater Company)
- Resilient Souls (2010)
- Occupy Olympus (2013)
- *mark (2014)
- My Depression (The Up and Down and Up of It) (2014; animated film)
- The Nomad (2015)
- The Golem (2015)
