"Suffs" Demands to Be Seen and Heard
My lesson in not trusting my first impression.
When I first encountered “Suffs,” the new musical about the suffragists, I was on TikTok, giggling at the “girlboss” of it all. “We demand to be seen / We demand to be heard,” and “I’m a great American bitch,” actual lines from the show’s numbers, felt cheesy and cliché, like they were brushing the surface. I am glad to say the actual production of “Suffs” is nearly a 360 from my first impression. Presented on stage with a dozen powerful non-male voices singing, this musical builds, shines, and feels authentically empowering.
“Suffs” tells the story of the suffragists, but ones you may not have heard of before. While we center on Alice Paul (Shaina Taub), she very much shares the stage with many, many other important women of the time.
Paul has two main contenders: Carrie Chapman Catt (Jenn Colella), a more conservative suffragist, who starts the show with a controlled and pristine “Let Mother Vote,” and Ida B. Wells (Nikki M. James), a Black suffragist who calls out Paul for her white feminist rallying. Beyond these two, there are four other prominent women who join Paul’s brigade — Inez Milholland (Hannah Cruz), Lucy Burns (Ally Bonino), Ruza Wenclawska (Kim Blanck), and Doris Stevens (Nadia Dandashi) — and even more suffragists we later meet along for the ride.
If it seems like a lot of characters to keep track of, it is and it isn’t. Each woman gets their time so we can see them somewhat fleshed out. There’s the beautiful lawyer, Milholand; Paul’s roommate and shy best friend, Burns; the angry, workers’ rights advocate Wenclawska; the studious secretary, Stevens.
Every suffragist brings out a particular theme in the movement, too. Catt shows the slower, more subdued way of getting the vote; Wells advocates for racial equality along with gender equality. Beyond Paul’s adversaries, Milholand sparks conversation of how to fight when you still want to have a family; Stevens cleverly lists legally economic disadvantages for women who get married.
With all the various characters and themes, some critics have said that the musical tries to tackle too much; for me, it shows the multitudes of the movement. Yes, some elements don’t get as much air time as others, and sometimes it feels like we’re jumping around from one to the next (which doesn’t get any help from the set, which is straightforward, boring, and mostly distracting as it moves up and down). Yet this multi-layered approach allows so many women to get a moment, and so many incredible actors to get their moment, too.
Taub, who not only stars as Paul but wrote the show’s book, music, and lyrics, delicately balances Paul’s perspective while incorporating the voices and perspectives of the other women in the fight. This balance is so effective that Paul becomes one of the least interesting characters of the musical, instead illuminating the women around her. They shine in Taub’s compelling score — the music becomes a rallying cry with hummable refrains for each recurring battle. When the women work together on unprecedented projects, they sing, “How do we do it when it’s never been done? / How do we find a way when there isn’t one?” When there’s fighting among the group, they sing “Why are you fighting me? / I am not the enemy.”
As these women sing and band together to fight for their rights, we notably don’t see who they’re fighting against. There are no men on stage at any point in the production. Instead, Grace McLean is a silly but sinister Woodrow Wilson, and Tsilala Brock plays his awkward and sympathetic chief of staff, Dudley Malone. When the suffragists are arrested for protesting, it’s the choreography that demonstrates handcuffing — the actors twisting their bodies in pain — rather than a male actor with a prop doing the work. The choice to leave male passing actors out of the equation shifts our focus to the determination and strength of the women on stage. We don’t need to see the discrimination or the violence to know it’s there.
Instead, we’re left with representation; “Suffs” quite literally demands for women to be seen and heard. While that can warn of a hollow type of feminism, in this version, it’s emotional, moving, and using the theatrical form to its advantage. Even my critical Gen Z eyes started to water when the cast sang the show’s finale, “Keep Marching On,” which proclaims, “Progress is possible, not guaranteed” in perfect harmony.
Thanks for reading! “Suffs” just opened on Broadway this month and currently has tickets open through the end of August. It also JUST got nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, which means tickets might become a bit hotter!
How I found out about it: “Suffs” originally played off-Broadway at The Public in 2022 and I tried every morning to win TodayTix’s rush tickets. I really wanted to see Philippa Soo (who was in this cast but did not transfer to Broadway).
Why I went: I was wary of this show after seeing clips, but a friend convinced me it hit the right amount of “girlboss” on stage. That encouragement and a cheaper ticket sold me that it was worth a try.
How I got tickets: Theater Development Fund (TDF). I’ve been checking this site three times a day because they keep adding offers to different shows. All Broadway shows are $60. “Suffs” is also on the Telecharge lottery for $50, which you can enter every day for free.