I saw Suffs on Broadway in May of the tumultuous election year that was 2024, and I thought it was relevant then. I didn't realize how much more relevant it would be to see this story about the final leg of the Women's Suffrage movement in 2026 in Minneapolis. As women's rights seem to diminish with every passing day, and protests continue and increase in size and frequency, in a city that's very familiar with marching and standing up for justice, meeting violence on the streets and being unfairly detained.
Suffs is an inspiring story of the women that worked for over 60 years to get women the right to vote in America, and the various and varying tactics they used, and reminds us not to take these rights for granted but to keep marching, because as we've recently seen, they can be taken away in an instant. Music/book/lyrics writer Shaina Taub (who also starred in the original production) has focused the long history of Women's Suffrage in this country on a handful of historical figures over the last few years before the passage of the 19th Amendment, creating a story that feels fresh and modern, that's as funny and entertaining as it is serious and moving. These
Suffs will be marching through Minneapolis through Sunday only -
click here for info and tickets, including student, educator, and performing arts industry rush.
Our story begins in 1913 and focuses on Alice Paul, the young activist joining the movement led by Carrie Chapman Catt, who in turn inherited it from her elder Susan B. Anthony (at this time, the women's suffrage movement was over 60 years old!). The musical follows Alice and her friends as they demand their rights now, in opposition to Carrie's more slow methodical methods. We know how this story ends, with women finally winning the right to vote in 1920, but the story of how we got there, and the lesser known women who were instrumental to making it happen, is fascinating to experience. And it's also super fun; these women are very relatable and speak in a modern way (comparisons to Hamilton are not unwarranted). From parades to national tours, from White House protests to prison hunger strikes, these women never gave up. The musical also addresses the failings of the Women's Suffrage movement, namely the fact that women of color were left out of the equation, whether by choice or pressure from outside forces. Ida B. Wells represents this group well, fighting for rights for Black people and women, since she is unable to choose one over the other.*
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Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton) with the Suffs (photo by Joan Marcus)
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The original cast left some big shoes to fill, and this touring cast does just that, and they do it well. Maya Keleher is a fantastic Alice, someone we want to follow, tough and determined while still showing vulnerability. Comprising Alice's core group are Gwynne Wood as Alice's loyal friend
Lucy Burns, Livvy Marcus as the adorably bookish secretary
Doris Stevens (whose book
Jailed for Freedom inspired Shaina to write this musical), Joyce Meimei Zheng as the brusque Polish immigrant and labor organizer
Ruza Wenclawska, and Monica Tulia Ramirez (an understudy on Broadway) as the socialite activist
Inez Milholland who became the face of the movement. Other highlights include Marya Grandy as Carrie Chapman Catt, Danyel Fulton as Ida B. Wells, and a couple of women in pants roles (since this is an all-female cast) - Jenny Ashman as a buffoonish President Woodrow Wilson and Brandi Porter as his right-hand man who changes his mind and decides to no longer support this president who is failing half of the country (what a novel idea). The writing and the performances take these historical figures that were just names on a page and make them into fully formed relatable humans that were not so different from you and me.
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Inez Milholland (Monica Tulia Ramirez) leads the parade
(photo by Joan Marcus) |
The Tony-winning score is fantastic, and just begging to be sung at the top of one's lungs in the car - "Great American Bitch" is a highlight and a celebration of women who stand up for their and others' rights, "If We Were Married" is a charming way to list all of the ways marriage was a bad deal for women, "The Young Are At the Gates" could be about today, and "Keep Marching" is the anthem we need this and every year. The 12-piece pit orchestra under conductor Dani Lee Hutch includes eight local musicians, and they sound great!*
The impressive Broadway set, losing nothing in its adaptation to the traveling show, is comprised of huge white Greek columns, massive stately wooden walls, and a few pieces of period furniture. The women are dressed in period clothing, lots of suffragist while, with purple and yellow, with lighting, sound, and fire effects adding impact to the storytelling (Original Broadway Scenic Design by Riccardo Hernández adapted by Christine Peters for the tour; Costume Design by Paul Tazewell; Lighting Design by Lap Chi Chu; Sound Design by Jason Crystal).*
If Hamilton tells the story of our forefathers in a fresh, new, inspiring way, Suffs does the same for our foremothers. Their cry of, "how long must we wait?" echoes through the present day. Like these suffragists, Minnesota, and the nation, is answering "we won't wait another day!" - for every person to have the right to vote, for equal pay, for reproductive rights, for justice. Suffs reminds that "progress is possible, not guaranteed," and shares one small section of the road to progress in a fun, entertaining, and moving way.
The Broadway tour of Suffs continues at Hennepin Arts' Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis through April 12 only.
