Suffs

Suffs is a musical with music, lyrics, and a book 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 women the right to vote. Following its off-Broadway premiere at The Public Theater in April 2022, the Broadway production opened at the Music Box Theatre on April 18, 2024, to mostly positive reviews. Suffs was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, winning for both Best Book and Best Score. The production closed in January 2025, and a North American tour began in September 2025 and is scheduled to end in August 2026.

Suffs is a musical with music, lyrics, and a book 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 women the right to vote. Following its off-Broadway premiere at The Public Theater in April 2022, the Broadway production opened at the Music Box Theatre on April 18, 2024, to mostly positive reviews. Suffs was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, winning for both Best Book and Best Score. The production closed in January 2025, and a North American tour began in September 2025 and is scheduled to end in August 2026.

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, disgusted with Wilson and convinced of the cause, publicly resigns ("Respectfully Yours, Dudley Malone"). At Occoquan Workhouse, the group stages a hunger strike to protest their arrest, much to the frustration of Mrs. Herndon, the strict but sympathetic prison matron. The group soon falls into conflict as Ruza accuses Alice of trying to get them all killed with her methods, with Lucy and Doris unable to quell the argument ("Hold It Together"). Meanwhile, Carrie continues to back Wilson despite misgivings about his broken promises and treatment of the suffragists in prison. 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 with the help of Mrs. Herndon, describing the horrific abuse by prison staff; Wilson publishes press reports contradicting the letters ("The Report"). As Alice slowly starves to death in solitary confinement, she is met by prison staff member Dr. White, who threatens to have her committed if she continues striking. A hallucination of Inez confronts Alice, warning she will be no good to the wider movement if she dies ("Show Them Who You Are (reprise)"). Taking Inez's advice, 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"). White is moved by her words and refuses to have her committed, despite Wilson's orders. Doris leaks the letters to the press, forcing Wilson to free the rest of the strikers. As the NWP burn Wilson in effigy after the war, a frustrated Carrie tells him that his broken promises have alienated even his less-radical base in NAWSA, and that he can easily quell dissent by supporting suffrage and publicly giving the credit to NAWSA ("Fire & Tea"). Wilson finally does so, but snidely reminds Carrie they still need enough state legislatures to ratify the amendment ("Let Mother Vote (reprise)"). In 1920, 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 Representative 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, Febb Burn, who reveals that she blames Wilson for her husband's death in the War but lacks the ability to vote against him ("A Letter From Harry's Mother"). Ida and Mary celebrate their success, but sadly agree that Black women will still be prevented from voting, just as Black men; 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 her professional and romantic partner Mollie Hay 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 wants to act on Broadway (“August 26th, 1920”). 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 (played by the actress who played Phyllis), a representative from National Organization for Women who seeks Alice's support on radical movements. 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 and points out how the 19th Amendment didn't make voting easier for Black women ("Finish the Fight (reprise)"). Realizing she has become the "old fogey" that 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").

Awards and nominations

Reception

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. 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. It was compared 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. The Broadway production saw mostly positive reviews. 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. Sara Holdren, writing in Vulture, felt similarly. Frank Rizzo, writing for Variety, called the production "smart, inspiring and thoroughly entertaining," impressed that the show covered seven years of events "efficiently and effectively with artful modulations of intensity, humor, sadness, spunk and joy". He praised Taub's "rich musical palette" and the choice to focus on internal divisions within the women's suffrage movement rather than male pushback to the movement.

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