Suffs, Music Box Theatre, New York, NY

 

The cast of Suffs. Photo credit: Jenny Anderson.

Two of my favorite musicals, 1776 and Hamilton, find their inspiration in the characters and events of early American history but, like much of history, what we’ve seen is the men doing “the work,” while the women labor in the background. In 1776, for example, we see only two women (Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson) who are seen only because of their relationships with their husbands. In Hamilton, we see four (the Schuyler sisters: Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy, as well as Maria Reynolds, with whom Hamilton has an affair that almost destroys his marriage and political future), who exist as characters only because of their relationship to Alexander Hamilton.

A new Broadway musical, Suffs (short for “suffragists,” not “suffragettes,” which suggests a diminutive status), tells the story of the years-long fight for women’s suffrage through fascinating characters who are not appendages of husbands or fathers and whose role as mother (if it applies) is totally incidental. It is the story of a struggle conducted by committed women who refused to take “no” for an answer. It is also an excellent illustration of the principle that every vote counts, in an instance where truth provides a delightful twist. Just as we know how 1776 and Hamilton will end, we know women will get the right to vote. There is still suspense in determining just what will have to happen for it to become a reality. Like Hamilton, Suffs premiered at the Public Theatre (in 2022) before moving to Broadway now.

The first attempt at a Constitutional amendment that would grant women voting rights was introduced in Congress in 1878. It would take 42 years before the Nineteenth Amendment was finally passed by Congress and then ratified by 36 states (three-fourths of the 48 states at that time).

We learn that the movement toward women’s suffrage was not monolithic: indeed, we see two sets of women at odds with each other over how to proceed toward their mutual goal. One side is led by Carrie Chapman Catt, who succeeded Susan B. Anthony as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, taking the less confrontational approach: “Let Mother Vote” is their battle-cry. They are content to move state by state and assure men that “Mother” will vote the same way her husband does, less threatening to the status of the men. The other side is led by a fiercely committed young woman named Alice Paul, who recognizes the need for more decisive action, proposing the first full-scale “march on Washington” just before Woodrow Wilson is inaugurated in 1913 to support a Constitutional Amendment that will resolve the issue at the national level. Paul doesn’t have time to waste on social niceties; she is impatient for wide-scale change.

Suffs doesn’t hold back on demonstrating an unpleasant and unfortunate historical fact: the suffragist movement purposely excludes Black women for fear of alienating possible supporters among Southern politicians. Although the amendment itself does not mention race, the possibility of enfranchising Black women would have been the death knell to the movement. Many of those politicians were still trying to prevent Black men (who had been granted the right to vote by the Fifteenth Amendment) from exercising their voting rights by adopting Jim Crow regulations.

Ultimately, the final ratification comes down to Tennessee. If the amendment fails there, it might well be dead: the majority of other states that had not ratified were Southern and are expected to reject it. The Tennessee Senate is split 50/50, until one senator changes his vote at the last minute – after receiving a letter from his mother convincing him to do the right thing. (Note: the last of the 48 states to ratify the amendment was Mississippi – in 1984.) We are reminded that, while voting rights were ultimately achieved, the nation failed to pass a subsequent amendment to guarantee equal rights for women. The cast reminds us that the only way things will change is to “Keep Marching,” a message that remains timely.

Suffs is the brainchild of Shaina Taub, who has written the book, music, and lyrics, not to mention starring as Alice Paul and co-creating vocal and incidental music arrangements. The songs and the script are filled with wit as well as historical drama, including depicting Paul and several of the suffragists being imprisoned and sometimes force-fed to disrupt their attempts at hunger strikes. As an actress, Taub is as fiercely committed to her character as her character is to the suffrage movement.

Kim Black, Hannah Cruz, Nadia Dandashi, Ally Bonino, and Shaina Taub in rehearsal for Suffs. Photo credit: Jenny Anderson.

The all-female cast (on the few occasions when male characters are required, they are played by women) is uniformly strong. Jenn Collela, a Tony nominee for Come From Away, lets us see some of the steely resolve underneath the non-threatening façade of Carrie Chapman Catt. Nikki M. James, a Tony winner for The Book of Mormon, creates a resolute Ida B. Wells, one of the founders of the NAACP and leader of one of the factions of Black women repudiated by the movement. Kim Blanck, Ally Bonino, Hannah Cruz, and Nadia Dandashi create fully unique characters as part of Alice Paul’s “posse” and have an especially great time in the song “G. A. B.,” proudly taking ownership of a pejorative euphemism for a woman. Emily Skinner, a Tony nominee for Side Show, makes brief but memorable appearances as Alva Belmont and Phoebe Burn, delivering “A Letter From Harry’s Mother” to her son the night before the decisive Tennessee vote. Anastacia McCleskey’s Mary Church Terrell, also a co-founder of the NAACP, contrasts nicely with James’s Ida B. Wells, demonstrating differing viewpoints from the Black women present. The two “men” included in the story, Woodrow Wilson and his chief-of-staff Dudley Malone, are played slyly by Grace McLean and Tsilala Brock, respectively.

Leigh Silverman directs with a sharp focus on the “prize” of attaining the vote for women. Mayte Natalio choreographs with just the right touch, capturing the ferocity of these different women as well as their lighter moments. Scene designer Riccardo Hernández suggests various locations with subtlety. Paul Tazewell’s costume designs convey the personalities of the characters and emphasize their differences.

Not enough people know this part of American history. Suffs brings the same illumination and understanding of this struggle that 1776 and Hamilton do for the period of the Founding Fathers, by presenting a much-needed focus on significant contributions strong women have made (and continue to make) toward advancing our nation.