"Fugitive Songs," the Chris Miller/Nathan Tysen song cycle making its world première at Echo Theatre Company under director Eric Little, will never go to Broadway.

But there are other places it could shine: colleges, community theaters, small ensembles. Any troupe looking to showcase young singer-actors might welcome this collection of story-songs about 20-somethings coping with unsettled lives.

"Fugitive Songs" is evocative of "Rent" — minus the melodrama, hard rock and quotes from Puccini. Miller, the composer, and Tysen, the lyricist, neither tell complete stories nor try to. Each number simply lets a character explore a situation in his or her life.

There's a folky, art-song quality to the overall sound, plus a dash of soft rock. Music director Kad Day and his live band create an intimate mood that doesn't overwhelm the voices, which are the show's real subject. Tim Daly designed the multilevel set, decorated only with a big bench and an abstract version of a road map.

Most songs deal with just the subjects you'd expect, though Tysen comes up with fresh twists. In "Annie's Party" a young woman (Katy Tibbets) in a failing relationship proclaims that she is "dressed to kill/ my boyfriend," but eventually she and her guy (Jason Ivan Brown) imagine a happy future predicted by the car radio, in the sweet "Spin the Dial."

In "Subway Song," a sandwich shop employee ( Khnemu Menu-Ra) bemoans his career of "maximum time at minimum wage."

"Washington Heights" lets Ben Nordstrom throw himself into a passionate account of a constant young-adult crisis: apartment hunting.

Comedy songs like that work especially well because they don't need context to sound funny. A woman (Lori Barrett-Pagano) dumps her worthless boyfriend with the lively "Spring Cleaning," a potential standard for girls' nights out, and Nordstrom recounts a hilarious nightmare of stoner crime in "Wilson."

The voices blend well, notably in the men's complex trio "Kansas Highway Sky" and in the opening "Reasons to Run," performed by the ensemble.

If your idea of entertainment involves big spectacles a la "Phantom," "Fugitive Songs" isn't for you. But it's a nice change of pace with a pleasant promise for the future.