Echo Theatre Company Presents FUGITIVE SONGS 10/30-11/15

Echo Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Fugitive Songs by Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen from October 30-November 15. Directed by Echo's Artistic Director Eric Little, the song cycle will feature the talents of Kevin Kline award winner Ben Nordstrom* and Lori Barrett-Pagano, Justin Ivan Brown, Khnemu Menu-Ra and Katy Tibbets*. The production will be held in Echo's performance venue, Theatre 134, in the ArtSpace at Crestwood Court. The theater is located in the Crestwood Court shopping center at the corner of Watson and Sappington Roads.

This innovative musical journey spotlights people on the run: a disgruntled Subway sandwich employee, a woman in a dead-end relationship, a pair of Patty Hearst fanatics, a stoner forced to rob a convenience store against his will, a jilted girlfriend and many others. Blending traditional folk music with contemporary pop and gospel, "Fugitive Songs" offers a new sound for a restless America.

The first version of Fugitive Songs was produced in 2008 at Dreamlight Theatre Company in New York City. For Echo's production, composer Chris Miller and lyricist Nathan Tysen redeveloped the show's focus, structure and characters, added and rewrote songs, and allowed director Eric Little to create a through-line for the piece as a whole. These alterations and additions have resulted in a very different work from the original source material.

Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen are the recipients of a 2007 Kitty Carlisle Hart Award, a 2006 Richard Rodgers Award, a 2004 Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award, a 2003 Frederick Loewe Foundation Grant, and a 2003 Jonathan Larson Award. Their musical, The Burnt Part Boys, will be seen in a co-production between Playwrights Horizons and the Vineyard Theatre in New York City this season. Recently, they were commissioned to write a Broadway musical based on the book Tuck Everlasting.

Tickets for Fugitive Songs are available through Brown Paper Tickets at 1.800.838.3006 and on-line through Echo's website at www.echotheatrecompany.org. For more information, call 314.225.4329.

Performance dates are October 30 through November 15, 2009. Show times are at 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and at 3:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Single tickets are $25 general admission and $20 for senior adults and $15 for students. Tickets for students with a valid ID are 2/$20 at the door.

Echo Theatre Company is an artist-driven company whose mission is to champion bold, contemporary works that provoke, excite and entertain. In addition to professional productions, Echo develops and nurtures new theatre audiences and artists through the Imagination over Limitations children's hospital outreach, a free play reading series and their Next Generation educational programs.

*Appearing Courtesy of Actors Equity Association

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