Ross Zentner
The characters in "Fugitive Songs" sing about desperation, loneliness and longing for transformation.
As the company of University Theatre’s current production Fugitive Songs sings in its opening number, “there are so many reasons to run.”
The audience is immersed in many musical variations on that theme — stories of desperation, loneliness and longing for transformation — throughout the 80-minute song cycle by Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen. Directed by Tony Award-winning actress and UW Theatre instructor Karen Olivo, the beautifully executed, emotionally rich show runs at the Mitchell Theatre for two weekends in July and will be remounted as the first production of the school year for two weekends in September.
The fugitives in the loose narrative of the piece include a Subway “sandwich artist” (a world-weary Nicholas Connors) who dreams about getting away from his minimum wage job in his rural small town; the middle-aged woman (a stoic and heartbreaking Kate Mann) disillusioned with her marriage to her high school sweetheart; a teenage debutante who is furious with her boyfriend after being stood up (a prissy and amusing Megan Hofschulte); and a photographer’s assistant (a goth-attired Ethan Larsen) who wants to see the world for himself instead of simply developing other people’s vacation pictures.
Although a few stories cross the line into bizarre (two women wishing they had been kidnapped like Patty Hearst; drug addicts holding up a gas station on a road trip to Mexico) most are unique enough be thought provoking yet universal.
The eight-member cast, made up primarily of UW students, is vocally strong, adeptly handling solos and blending close harmonies. They are backed by an excellent five-piece folk ensemble of piano, percussion, violin, bass and guitar that adds texture and richness to the songs, without overpowering the singers.
Fugitive Songs is a song cycle, so there is no overarching story — just snippets of diverse people working out the next steps in their emotional and literal journeys. Through mini-vignettes between songs, Olivo attempts to define characters more fully. She uses inventive blocking to flesh out scenes behind the soloists. Some of these additions work well, while others are distracting and unnecessary.
Rob Wagner’s set is simple and compelling: a single road painted onto the floor, stretching into the distance. Soaring set pieces made from wooden pallets variously represent the mountains of Colorado, the buildings of “the big city” and the landscape of the unknown as each character tries to leave his old life behind and begin a new chapter.
From the first notes, when we are introduced to the beautiful ensemble in search of something, to the final moment when the characters have left all their baggage behind, Fugitive Songs is a tuneful, intriguing journey.
