Tribute: Elizabeth Swados

The talented Elizabeth Swados’ “voice” was heard even before she graduated from Bennington College, when she did the music for Andrei Serban’s adaptation of “Medea” at La Mama, here in lower Manhattan. Of course her first big hit was in 1978 with “Runaways,” the musical revue about teenagers, which she wrote and directed. She would go on to garner four Tony nominations in the course of her career. Despite a family history that was marked with depression, alcoholism, and suicide, she was very productive, and stated, “I’m not an unhappy person. I live in wild swings of mood, but I sure live!” She died at the age of 64. And you can hear her interview with Leonard from May of 2005, when she spoke about her illustrated memoir, My Depression.