CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Lyric Theatre program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will take audiences on a road trip throughout the country with a variety of characters on the run when it presents “Fugitive Songs” at the Rose Bowl on April 6, at the Canopy Club on April 13 and at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts for Krannert Center Uncorked on April 25.
The song cycle features folk, pop, country and blues songs that express the unsettled and restless feelings of 20-somethings, said “Fugitive Songs” director Sarah Wigley, a voice professor and a resident director for Lyric Theatre.
“The whole show feels like moving away or moving toward something. It either exemplifies the desire to run from something, as so many people do in their 20s, or run toward something – adventure, freedom, expansion, the unknown,” Wigley said. “It’s an incredibly relatable song cycle for people of all ages, because we’ve all gone through periods of our lives where we feel transition and restlessness.”
The characters in the songs include a Subway sandwich maker working for minimum wage, two Patty Hearst fanatics, three people biking across America, a man who imagines he’s constantly seeing his ex pass by him, a woman whose boyfriend jilts her by not showing up for her party, and another woman who is spring cleaning her home and also getting rid of her lover.
The songs are not just about the challenges of life. They also are full of gratitude, Wigley said. Her favorite song from the show, “Kansas Highway Sky,” is sung by the group of bikers who are roughing it by camping on their journey across the country, but who take time to appreciate the beauty of the sky and the possibilities in front of them.
Many of the songs feel like an homage to the 1970s folk music of artists such as Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, Wigley said. But they are difficult and demanding songs to sing, she said.
“There are huge vocal ranges and complex jazz and blues rhythms to more R&B styles. You have to know how to riff. Everyone has to be really diverse in their ability to adapt to the different styles,” Wigley said.
The 19 songs are performed as solos with ensemble features, duets and trios, with live accompaniment from a piano, bass guitar and drums.
“I think people will be surprised at how much movement there is. We really tried to make sure this didn’t feel stagnant. There are different types of interaction when the cast isn’t singing. It moves really fast,” Wigley said.
Because the show requires no set other than stools and microphones, it is easy to perform at an outside venue, she said.
“If performers are on tour, they constantly are having to work with different sound, the feel of different spaces, how the audience differs, how the band differs at different venues. They have to be adaptable and work with different tech people. That’s the real world, so it’s great for students to experience that,” Wigley said.
Performing at various venues also allows the Lyric Theatre program to capture a slightly different audience. “Sometimes people who go to the Rose Bowl wouldn’t go to Krannert Center. The music is so accessible; the tickets are $10. There’s everything to like about this production,” Wigley said.
The final performance in the Krannert Center lobby is free.