Suffs

Suffs
Broadway Promotional Poster
Music	Shaina Taub
Lyrics	Shaina Taub
Book	Shaina Taub
Basis	Women's suffrage in the United States
Premiere	April 6, 2022: The Public Theater
Productions	2022 off-Broadway 2024 Broadway

Suffs is a stage musical with book, music, and lyrics by Shaina Taub, based on suffragists and the American women's suffrage movement, focusing primarily on the historical events leading up to the ratification of the nineteenth amendment to the United States constitution in 1920 that gave some women, primarily white women the right to vote. It premiered off-Broadway at The Public Theater in April 2022.

The show opened on Broadway on April 18, 2024 at the Music Box Theatre. It received positive reviews from critics and 6 nominations at the 77th Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Plot

Act 1

At the 1913 National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) Convention, Carrie Chapman Catt gives a speech calling for support for women's suffrage ("Let Mother Vote"). Alice Paul proposes a march on Washington, D.C. on the day of President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, to pressure him to support a federal amendment for suffrage. Carrie refuses, preferring NAWSA's approach of gaining suffrage state-by-state. Alice, frustrated at the slow progress, resolves to see equality for all achieved in her lifetime ("Finish the Fight"). She recruits her college friend Lucy Burns to help organize the march themselves, joined by socialite Inez Milholland, Polish labor organizer Ruza Wenclawska, and student Doris Stevens ("Find A Way"). The march earns significant support, but they run into divisions when they learn some delegations do not want Black women to march. Alice compromises by having a colored women delegation at the back. Prominent African-American journalist and activist Ida B. Wells learns of this and confronts the organizers, declaring her intention to march with her state delegation regardless. She wearily remarks that she fully expects the movement to ignore the rights of women of color ("Wait My Turn"). With the march nearing, Alice insists that the movement needs to focus on a single issue, with everything else being secondary.

On the morning of the march, Ida runs into her friend and fellow Black activist Mary Church Terrell, along with her daughter Phyllis. Ida favors forceful acts to draw attention, while Mary prefers an approach of "dignified agitation", working within the system to fight for colored women's rights ("Terrell's Theme"). The Woman Suffrage Procession faces some violent pushback, but they succeed in completing the march ("The March (We Demand Equality"). As the organizers celebrate, Doris expresses distress over having been called a "bitch" by one of the counter-protestors. The rest of the women encourage her to embrace this label as a sign of her independence ("Great American Bitch"). Carrie offers NAWSA's backing to the newly-formed Congressional Union (CU) for Woman Suffrage, made up of the march's organizers, although she and Alice still disagree on their respective approaches. The CU go to the White House for a meeting with Wilson, who declares to his chief of staff Dudley Field Malone his—albeit condescending and chauvinistic—adoration for women ("Ladies"). He offers them lip service but continually puts off publicly showing support in his first term; a frustrated Alice suggests NAWSA withdraw their support, but Carrie refuses to antagonize Wilson as he has pledged to keep the U.S. out of the war in Europe.

Alice finds her activism has taken a toll on her personal life, but remembering how exhausted her mother was from campaigning for women's suffrage while raising her, decides she cannot think about starting a family until she achieves her goals ("Worth It"). Doris approaches Dudley to try to get him to change Wilson's mind; she explains what the movement is fighting for by offering a hypothetical scenario of her rights if they were husband-and-wife, with the two gradually flirting as Dudley grows convinced by her rhetoric ("If We Were Married"). At the 1916 NAWSA Convention, Ida accuses Mary of allowing herself to be used as a prop by white women ("The Convention Part 1"). The CU disrupts the convention by publicly calling for a boycott of Wilson's reelection, criticizing the slower approach of "old fogies" like Carrie. Offended at having her contributions to the movement ignored ("This Girl"), Carrie publicly condemns Alice and privately informs her that her actions have no place in NAWSA ("The Convention Part 2"). With the CU effectively kicked out of NAWSA, Alice recruits NAWSA donor and socialite Alva Belmont to fund the National Woman's Party (NWP) and continue with their boycott ("Alva Belmont"). The NWP plans a campaign tour calling for women in states where they have voting rights to vote against Wilson. Inez tries to take a leave of absence so she can focus on family planning, but is convinced by Alice to go on the tour ("Show Them Who You Are"). The boycott ultimately fails and Wilson is re-elected ("The Campaign"); to make matters worse, a devastated Lucy returns from the tour with the news that Inez collapsed and died from exhaustion after one of her speeches, having hid her anemia from the others. The group hold a vigil for Inez, and resolve to continue in her honor ("How Long?").

Act 2

The NWP organize the Silent Sentinels, standing in silence outside the White House gates until Wilson publicly supports suffrage. When Wilson declares that the U.S. will join the Great War, they hold up banners with his own words printed on them to highlight his hypocrisy, only to be arrested on Wilson's orders ("The Young Are At The Gates") and sentenced for the trumped up charge of obstructing traffic. Dudley, convinced of the suffragists' cause, publicly resigns from Wilson's staff ("Respectfully Yours, Dudley Malone"). At Occoquan Workhouse, the group lead a hunger strike to protest their arrest, but soon fall into conflict as Ruza accuses Alice of trying to get them all killed with her methods; meanwhile, Carrie's professional and romantic partner Mollie Hay leaves her for her continued support of Wilson despite his broken promises and treatment of the suffragists in prison ("Hold It Together"). Dudley helps free Doris from prison by posing as her husband and joins the NWP. Mary argues with Ida about publicly condemning the war, as both express their fatigue over constantly fighting for Black women's rights and being ignored at every turn ("Wait My Turn (reprise)").

The strikers smuggle letters out of the prison, describing the horrific abuse by prison staff ("The Report"). As Alice slowly starves to death in solitary confinement, she is met by the prison's Dr. White, who threatens to have her committed if she continues striking. A hallucination of Inez confronts her, warning she will be no good to the wider movement if she dies ("Show Them Who You Are (reprise)"). Alice tells Dr. White she is willing to be called insane so long as it is known she is still fighting for what she believes in, and ends her hunger strike ("Insane"). Despite being under orders from Wilson to find any reason to declare her unfit, White is moved by her words and refuses to have her committed. Doris leaks the letters to the press, forcing Wilson to free them. As the NWP burn Wilson in effigy after the war, a finally fed up Carrie tells Wilson that his broken promises have alienated even his less-radical base in NAWSA, and that he can stop the loud, public protests in a single move by supporting the movement ("Fire & Tea"). Wilson finally does so in his State of the Union address, but snidely reminds Carrie they still need enough state legislatures to ratify the amendment ("Let Mother Vote (reprise)").

On the morning of the final vote for the Nineteenth Amendment in Tennessee, Carrie and Alice run into each other. At first they passive-aggressively blame each other for their struggles, but Carrie has an epiphany when she realizes that she was once the young upstart in the suffrage movement to the more conservative Susan B. Anthony, and that Alice chose the path of forceful resistance that Carrie had left behind ("She and I"). The Nineteenth Amendment vote comes down to a single vote from Senator Harry T. Burn, who is convinced to change his vote from a "Nay" to an "Aye" at the last minute after receiving a telegram from his mother ("A Letter From Harry's Mother"). Ida and Mary celebrate their success, but wearily agree that Black women will still be prevented from voting; Phyllis encourages them to keep faith that the movement will continue. The other women celebrate the amendment's passing ("I Was Here"); as Dudley and Doris plan to wed, Carrie invites Mollie to join her on a diplomatic trip abroad, as they lament that they do not have the freedom to truly live as a married couple ("If We Were Married (reprise)").

Alice pitches the NWP's next goal of getting the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) passed. However, the entire group is exhausted and decide to quit organizing: Doris plans to publish her memoirs about her experiences in the movement; Ruza announces plans to act on Broadway; and Lucy decides to retire from activism, though she assures Alice she values their shared fight ("Lucy's Song"). In the 1970s, an aged but still active Alice meets young activist Robin, a representative from National Organization for Women, who asks for her support on more radical movements in the fight for equality. Alice disagrees with Robin's call for an intersectional approach, preferring the singular focus on the ERA, but is taken aback when Robin accuses her of being behind in her ways ("Finish the Fight (reprise)"). Realizing she has become the "old fogy" like Carrie was to her, Alice accepts she will not live to see the end of the fight for equality, but declares that it will happen one day so long as people maintain their resolve ("Keep Marching").

Cast and characters

Character	Off-Broadway	Broadway
	2022	2024
Alice Paul	Shaina Taub
Carrie Catt	Jenn Colella
Ida B. Wells	Nikki M. James
Harry T. Burn	Jenna Bainbridge
Lucy Burns	Ally Bonino
Dudley Field Malone	Tsilala Brock
Inez Milholland	Phillipa Soo	Hannah Cruz
Ruza Wenclawska	Hannah Cruz	Kim Blanck
Doris Stevens	Nadia Dandashi
Alva Belmont / Phoebe Burn	Aisha de Haas	Emily Skinner
Mary Church Terrell	Cassondra James	Anastaćia McCleskey
Mollie Hay	Jaygee Macapugay
Woodrow Wilson	Grace McLean
Phyllis Terrell	J. Riley Jr.	Laila Erica Drew

Songs

Off-Broadway (2022)

Act I

• "Watch Out for the Suffragette!"
• "Suffrage School"
• "Alice & Carrie"
• "Finish the Fight"
• "Find A Way"
• "Wait My Turn"
• "Find A Way Coda"
• "An Interview with Mary Church Terrell"
• "The March"
• "After the March"
• "Ladies"
• "The Inez I Know #1"
• "The Bar at the New Ebbitt House"
• "If We Were Married"
• "Unfurling the Banner"
• "This Girl"
• "The Convention"
• "Alva Belmont"
• "The Inez I Know #2"
• "On the Trail"
• "How Long?"
• "The Young Are At The Gates"

Act II

• "America When Feminized"
• "Belly of the Beast"
• "Mister President, Something Terrible Has Happened"
• "Respectfully Yours, Dudley Malone"
• "Hold It Together"
• "Wait My Turn (reprise)"
• "The Report"
• "Comrade, You're Right Where I Left You"
• "The Strong One"
• "Relentless"
• "Fire & Tea"
• "Ladies (reprise)"
• "She and I"
• "Anti-Suffrage Rose"
• "A Letter From Harry's Mother"
• "A Telephone Call from Mary Church Terrell"
• "I Wasn't There"
• "If We Were Married (Reprise)"
• "August 26th"
• "Lucy's Song"
• "Me, the Old Fogey"
• "Never Over"

Broadway (2024)

Act I

• "Let Mother Vote"
• "Finish the Fight"
• "Find A Way"
• "Wait My Turn"
• "Terrell's Theme"
• "The March (We Demand Equality)"
• "Great American Bitch"
• "Ladies"
• "Worth It"
• "If We Were Married"
• "The Convention Part 1"
• "This Girl"
• "The Convention Part 2"
• "Alva Belmont"
• "Show Them Who You Are"
• "The Campaign"
• "How Long?"

Act II

• "The Young Are At The Gates"
• "Respectfully Yours, Dudley Malone"
• "Hold It Together"
• "Wait My Turn (reprise)"
• "The Report"
• "Show Them Who You Are (reprise)"
• "Insane"
• "Fire & Tea"
• "Let Mother Vote (reprise)"
• "She and I"
• "A Letter From Harry's Mother"
• "I Was Here"
• "If We Were Married (reprise)"
• "Lucy's Song"
• "Finish the Fight (reprise)"
• "Keep Marching"

Development

Shaina Taub began developing the show in the early 2010s, after she read suffragist Doris Stevens' account, Jailed for Freedom.

The musical, then titled Suffragist, was originally planned to premiere at the Public in fall of 2020, with a cast that would have included Stephanie Hsu and Kate Wetherhead, but this was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further plans were made to open it at the Delacorte Theater as part of the return of the Public's Shakespeare in the Park season in the following summer, before the decision was made to delay it into 2022.

The plots of the Off-Broadway and Broadway versions of Suffs are roughly identical: however, in making changes Taub focused on tightening the story and improving the development of the supporting characters. The originally sung-through score had many songs (including its original, Brechtian opening number "Watch Out for the Suffragette!") cut and either turned into new songs or replaced with dialogue.

Production history

Off-Broadway (2022)

The musical, now called Suffs, was initially going to open its world premiere production at The Public Theater on April 6, 2022, but the preview the night before as well as the opening night were cancelled due to a large number of positive COVID-19 cases among the cast. It began previews on March 13 and was initially announced to run until April 24, but was extended three times: first to May 1, then to May 15, and finally to May 29. Directed by Leigh Silverman, the production starred Taub as Alice Paul, Jenn Colella as Carrie Catt, Nikki M. James as Ida B. Wells, Phillipa Soo as Inez Milholland, Hannah Cruz as Ruza Wenclawska, Nadia Dandashi as Doris Stevens, Ally Bonino as Lucy Burns, Grace McLean as Woodrow Wilson, Tsilala Brock as Dudley Field Malone, Jenna Bainbridge as Harry T. Burn, Aisha de Haas as Alva Belmont and Phoebe Burn, Jaygee Macapugay as Mollie Hay, Cassondra James as Mary Church Terrell, J. Riley Jr. as Phyllis Terrell, and Ada Westfall as Mrs. Herndon.

Broadway (2024)

In October 2023, it was announced that the show would transfer to Broadway in spring 2024. Among the producing team is former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton and activist Malala Yousafzai. Silverman returned to direct. In January 2024, full casting was announced. Except for Phillipa Soo, most of the off-Broadway cast reprised their roles. Kim Blanck, Emily Skinner, Laila Erica Drew, and Anastaćia McCleskey also joined the cast for the transfer. The production has a new creative team with choreography by Mayte Natalio, scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting by Lap Chi Chu, sound by Jason Crystal and Sun Hee Kill, orchestrations by Michael Starobin and music supervision/music direction by Andrea Grody.

The show began previews on March 26, 2024 with an official opening on April 18 at the Music Box Theatre. At the time of the show's premiere, Taub became the second woman in Broadway history to "to write the book, music, lyrics, and star in her own musical".

Awards and nominations

2022 Off-Broadway Production

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
2022	Lucille Lortel Awards	Outstanding Musical		Nominated
		Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical	Nikki M. James	Nominated
	Drama League Awards	Outstanding Production of a Musical		Nominated
		Outstanding Direction of a Musical	Leigh Silverman	Nominated
		Distinguished Performance	Nikki M. James	Nominated
	Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Jenn Colella	Nominated
	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Lyrics	Shaina Taub	Nominated

2024 Broadway Production

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
2024	Tony Awards	Best Musical		Pending
		Best Book of a Musical	Shaina Taub	Pending
		Best Original Score		Pending
		Best Featured Actress in a Musical	Nikki M. James	Pending
		Best Direction of a Musical	Leigh Silverman	Pending
		Best Costume Design of a Musical	Paul Tazewell	Pending
	Drama League Awards	Outstanding Production of a Musical		Nominated
		Outstanding Direction of a Musical	Leigh Silverman	Nominated
		Distinguished Performance	Nikki M. James	Nominated
			Jenn Colella	Nominated
	Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding New Broadway Musical		Won
		Outstanding Book of a Musical	Shaina Taub	Won
		Outstanding Score		Won
		Outstanding Orchestrations	Michael Starobin	Nominated
		Outstanding Direction of a Musical	Leigh Silverman	Nominated
	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical	Emily Skinner	Pending
		Outstanding Music	Shaina Taub	Pending
		Outstanding Orchestrations	Michael Starobin, Shaina Taub, and Andrea Grody	Pending
		Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical	Riccardo Hernández	Pending
		Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical	Paul Tazewell	Pending
		Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical	Lap Chi Chu	Pending
		Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical	Jason Crystal	Pending
		Outstanding Wig and Hair	Charles G. LaPoint	Pending

Reception

Off-Broadway

The Off-Broadway production of Suffs received mixed to positive reviews. The production's cast, score, and direction received praise, but criticism was leveled at the musical's book, runtime, and overall structure. Juan A. Ramirez of Theatrely believed the musical's first act was too focused on narration and historical information, finding the second act vastly superior due to depicting vivid onstage conflict. He also felt the musical's criticism of the suffragists for excluding black women rang hollow due to it having no overall effect on the actual narrative. Raven Snook of Time Out gave the musical four stars out of five but opined that, despite efforts by the production to highlight Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell, their story still felt sidelined by the overall narrative. In an overall positive review for Variety, Marilyn Stasio also found the second act superior but rushed, feeling the already nearly three-hour show could be longer to accommodate it.

Suffs was compared prior to opening night and in multiple reviews with Hamilton, which like Suffs is a historical musical that debuted in the Newman Theater at the Public, featuring Phillipa Soo in a starring role, and attracted similarly sold-out audiences. Maya Phillips, writing for The New York Times, noted that Suffs seemed to be trying to avoid potential criticisms similar to ones that had been leveled at Hamilton for its politics around women and slavery. Phillips opined this fear of leaving out information actually worked to the detriment of the story, voicing that the show felt "bloated with information". Helen Shaw of Vulture also found the Hamilton comparison "unavoidable". Shaw praised the musical's portrayal of divisions within the suffragists movement, but she felt that Taub's music and Silverman's staging lacked the variation needed to carry the story. Nevertheless, Shaw saw potential in the musical's future development: "Just a few amendments to go, and, like a certain Constitution I could mention — it might be truly great."

Broadway

The Broadway production of Suffs saw mostly positive reviews. Frank Rizzo, writing for Variety, called the production "smart, inspiring and thoroughly entertaining," noting that the show covered seven years of events "efficiently and effectively with artful modulations of intensity, humor, sadness, spunk and joy". He also praised Taub's "rich musical palette" and the choice to focus on internal division's within the women's suffrage movement rather than male pushback to the movement. Elisabeth Vincentelli of The Washington Post wrote that "while it did not magically morph into a great show, Version 2.0 is tighter, more confident, often rousing and downright entertaining." She praised the revisions which placed more focus on the ensemble and which better acknowledged the shortfalls of the white suffragists to include their Black counterparts, but felt that the book did not explore each character enough.

See also

• Shoulder to Shoulder (1974 series)
• Iron Jawed Angels (2004 film)
• Suffragette (2015 film)

External links

• Official website
• ​Suffs​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• ​Suffs​ at the Internet Off-Broadway Database