March yourself over to the Orpheum Theatre this week to see
SUFFS (closing April 12)!
This brilliant musical follows the efforts of the suffragists (
not suffragettes) battling to win the right of women to vote in the early 20th century. Starting with the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848, women had been organizing with the aim of amending the Constitution to give women the right to vote. More than fifty years later and no closer to an amendment, the movement got a burst of energy, and controversy, when Alice Paul (Maya Keleher) joined the fight. Paul clashed with the suffrage establishment, represented by Carrie Chapman Catt (Marya Grandy), president of the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Frustrated with the genteel campaigning of NAWSA, Paul organized a national march for women's suffrage right past the White House in Washington, D.C.
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Maya Keleher (Alice Paul) and Marya Grandy
(Carrie Chapman Catt) in the First National
Touring Company of SUFFS.
Photo by Joan Marcus, 2025. |
The musical depicts the clashes of the younger "suffs" with the political establishment in a series of frustrating meetings with President Woodrow Wilson (Jenny Ashman) as well as their disagreements with the polite actions of NAWSA. Another contingent competing for recognition by the political establishment and the white suffrage movement includes Black suffragist Mary Church Terrell (Trisha Jeffrey) and crusading Black journalist Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton, a standout for her passion and gravitas), who also disagree on tactics. None of these arguments are simple or even necessarily resolvable.
This may sound heavy, and it is, but the music, book, and lyrics, all by Shaina Taub (who also played Alice Paul on Broadway), delightfully introduce us to these brilliant, dedicated, complex women. Just one example is the song, "If We Were Married," in which presidential aide Dudley Malone (Brandi Porter) lays out a romantic domestic future while Doris Stevens (Livvy Marcus) describes all the ways in which marrying would take away her rights. It's a delightful twist on the traditional musical theater romantic duet.
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Monica Tulia Ramirez (Inez Milholland) and company in the First National Touring Company of SUFFS. Photo by Joan Marcus, 2025. |
In a show full of stellar performers, Danyel Fulton as Wells stands out, conveying her frustrations with passion and gravitas. The full touring cast of all female-presenting performers is more than up to the job of showing these women (and a few men) in all of their variety.
I first saw this musical in November 2024 (after the election). The story had great resonance then, but in 2026, the Minneapolis audience was primed and ready to hear the message of SUFFS. I can't remember ever being in an audience so engaged with a theatrical performance at the Orpheum. On opening night, the League of Women Voters was represented by groups from around the state, with some arriving in suffragette white with "Votes for Women" sashes.
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Library of Congress: Suffragists with Flag;
between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915 |
Before or after the show, or just for the knowledge, check out the
SUFFS website for some great information and historical photos of the real life suffs, and more resources.
And on May 8, watch the recording of the original Broadway cast on
PBS's Great Performances. And carry the energy into the streets! Keep marching!
