Bøger af Elizabeth Swados

During a weekend retreat sponsored by two female rabbis, the atmosphere in a country log cabin evolves from shyness and contempt into a tell-all session among adolescent Jewish girls from all types of families and backgrounds. Stories and songs transcend stereotypes to find individuality, heart and humor and to touch on sensitive issues such as pressure, self-esteem, the fast pace of this decade and what it means to be a girl - not just a Jewish girl - in modern society. Meet the loner with the inflatable mattress, the rich girl, the observant young woman with the gay brother, the anarchist, the all-too mature teen and an intriguing mix of other vivid personalities. Songs range from contemporary to pop tunes to upbeat numbers based on religious liturgy, all by the author of Runaways, The Red Sneaks and other challenging musicals for young casts.

This "Passover oratorio" by the composer of Runaways is a disarmingly simple account of the birth and life of Moses, and of the Exodus, presented with masks and a clever use of puppetry. This unusual show was originally produced (and later revived) during Passover at Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival at the Public Theater.

This "music hall" version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass was a New York Shakespeare Festival production. Swados composed the score, adapted the book and directed for the stage. Meryl Streep starred as Alice at New York's Public Theatre.Later aired on PBS and titled Alice at the Palace, this imaginative rendering of the Lewis Carroll classic is performed concert-style on a bare stage, the actors in modern rehearsal clothes. Stylistically, the music ranges from rock to country/western to calypso, as the outlandish characters of Wonderland are reinterpreted in this "story theatre" setting.

Young people and improvisational theater should be a natural combination-so why do we so rarely find this combo in today's classrooms? According to Elizabeth Swados-playwright, director, composer, poet, author of children's books and of an acclaimed family memoir-improvisational theater is the perfect creative outlet for junior-high and high-school students . . . if only they can be given the tools and the guidance to make the most of this natural yet rigorous art form.Drawing on her own experience teaching inner-city children in the groundbreaking musical Runaways and in teaching the techniques of improv theater in schools around the country, as well as on her own background in experimental theater, Swados provides a step-by-step guide to bringing out the natural creativity and enthusiasm key to young people creating-and enjoying-improvisational theater. Covering the basics-from freeing the imagination to learning about how to work with an ensemble, from how to master different forms of movement and sound to how to create different kinds of characters-this is the book for teachers and students eager to learn how to express fully the creative talent that all children are born with.

Runaways is a collection of songs, dances, and spoken word pieces performed by children who have run away from their homes. Initially created from interviews with homeless children and those in orphanages, Liz Swados' unique piece weaves songs about personal struggle and the world at large through the eyes of youth in New York City in the '70s. The show blends different musical styles, from pop to hip-hop and jazz to reggae, while asking why children can't remain children.The licensed version of Runaways reflects the version performed by Encores in 2016.

After two decades in prison, an ex-radical navigates reentry in New York by walking a series of high-strung, wealthy pooches.