Suffragists Were a Misunderstood Movement — A New Musical Sets the Record Straight

Last month — on the heels of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that essentially outlawed IVF — women’s rights stepped into the spotlight on Broadway. Suffs, a new musical about the women’s suffrage movement of the early 1900s, offers a stark portrayal of how far women have come in the fight for gender equality, and how many steps they’ve recently been pushed back. And there’s no shortage of heavy hitters involved in the show: After a 2022 off-Broadway stint, Suffs’ Broadway run is being produced by Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai (among others).

I saw the show as Women’s History Month came to a close, and the agitated energy was infectious: Imagine that historical figures like Alice Paul and Ida B. Wells descended upon a group of hundreds of discouraged women and gave them a passionate, 2.5-hour pep talk — and delivered a little humor, by way of songs like “Great American Bitch” — and you’ve got Suffs. “Your ancestors are all the proof you need…the world can be changed, we’ve done it before…We’re always behind you so bang down the door,” the characters chanted as the show closed. Much has changed since the days of the suffragists, but as women’s right to bodily autonomy hangs in the balance, the production feels eerily prescient.

Suffs exposes what women went through in their fight for equality more than a century ago: they were beaten in the streets; arrested, jailed, and force-fed; accused of insanity; and ridiculed endlessly. And they kept marching, eventually winning the right to vote. But the show is clear-eyed about history: It highlights the intersectionality of the suffrage movement, in terms of race and age, and addresses its imperfections.

Shaina Taub stars as Paul, but also wrote and composed the musical, which she’s been working on for 10 years, since the age of 25. Now she’s making her Great White Way debut, and setting records: Taub is the second woman in Broadway history to write the book, music, and lyrics, and star in her own musical, and Suffs is the first Broadway musical to be written by women, produced by women, directed and choreographed by women, and feature women and nonbinary performers.

Ahead of its Broadway opening, I spoke to Taub about this premiere’s timing during a pivotal moment in the fight for gender equality, working with feminist legends like Clinton and Yousafzai, and the pressure to get this story right. 

Katie Couric Media: What inspired you to tell this story? 

Shaina Taub: I’ve always been interested in history and social movements in America, but I never learned about the suffrage movement until [producer] Rachel Sussman brought me this idea almost 10 years ago. As I was starting to write my own musicals, I knew I wanted to highlight a story about a group of girls trying to change the world, but I didn’t know what to adapt. And then when Rachel told me about the suffrage movement, I couldn’t believe I’d never learned about it before. It’s such a multifaceted dynamic story that spans decades and generations. I was just like, Where has this been all my life? I realized this was the story. These are the women I’d been looking for — they’re my freaking ancestors.

This movement had its flaws: Black activists were excluded and their efforts were overlooked, so presenting the white characters as heroes must have been a challenge. 

A central thesis of Suffs has always been that it was an imperfect movement. These were flawed everyday people just like us, who made mistakes and pursued their goals at the expense of other people. The thorniness, complications, and racism within the movement felt dramatically compelling because those are conflicts, and drama hinges on conflict. So I wasn’t interested in telling a simplified story of “sheroes who made herstory.” These were real people and it was important to me to depict their shortsightedness around race and show that people who share a goal of equality, justice, and progress aren’t necessarily perfect. I want to show that ordinary, messy, flawed people can help make change. If we wait for the perfect time, the perfect coalition, the perfect colleagues, it’s never going to happen.

Also, we all love the [idea of the] singular, unique, charismatic genius who, by the sheer force of their personality, changes the world. But [the suffrage movement] was a web of people over many years all over the country, some prominent and some not. 

How did you show the complexities of the movement?

So much of the show is about the divide between the moderates and the radicals, and different tactics and ways to make change. I wanted to depict that tension and struggle not only among the white women, and between the white women and Black women, but between the Black women as well. From the very earliest reading of this show, I was passionate about having Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell as characters to show divisions within the Black suffrage movement as well.  

We also depict Mary Church Terrell’s relationship with her daughter, Phyllis Terrell. That’s our one mother-daughter relationship in the show, and it feels really special because the mother’s generation inspires the younger generation, and then conversely, the younger generation inspires the older generation. 

Tell me about the timing of the premiere: It’s Women’s History Month, an election year, and the Alabama ruling is still fresh. Was this always the plan?

In the early days of Suffs, when it was just me and Rachel dreaming it up in 2014 and 2015, we were like, “One day maybe down the line, we’ll get to do the show in New York, and President Hillary Clinton will come.” In 2016, that dream shattered, as it did for many of us, in ways. And then we were more invigorated because our rights and freedoms were being threatened more than we ever could’ve imagined during those horrible Trump years. We were working toward 2020 and we were like, “All right, it’s going to be an election year, we’re trying to get this jerk out of office and it’s also the centennial of the 19th Amendment, and that’s what we’re working toward.” And then of course that all changed because of Covid.

And now it’s four years later and we have Biden, and of course, we cosmically ended up opening the show in an election year. That feels meant to be. And it’s this American moment that’s not what we thought it would be. I think of the optimism of the Obama years, the sheer terror of the Trump years, and now we have a champion in office, and yet Roe v. Wade is gone and IVF is being thrown out. Women are essentially being legislated out of existence and we’ve come to a time when people are feeling cynical and disillusioned about their vote mattering at all. But I think it’s a moral imperative to tell this story — to make clear that people fought and died for our vote, and it’s incumbent on us to not give up.

What’s it been like working with Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai?

Completely surreal and a total honor. I’ve just been moved by how passionate they are about the importance of art and storytelling in these movements, for change and women’s empowerment. They understand that the arts have a role to play. A lot of leaders don’t appreciate that we need to change hearts and minds before we can change policy. 

You’ve won an Obie, and had success in Shakespeare in the Park, in the UK, and off-Broadway. Your next show is The Devil Wears Prada, which you wrote with Elton John. But you’re making your Broadway debut in a show you wrote and composed. How does that feel?

I feel excited. I feel proud. This is such a dream come true, and to have so many women involved, during a season with so many female-led shows, feels celebratory. But while I fully stand behind how woman-centered our show is — I’m unapologetic about that — it’s a show for everyone. My hope for Suffs is that everyone feels seen in one piece of it.

What do you hope audiences get out of the show?

We have an opportunity to remind people that we’ve made great change through the sheer power of people, organizing, mobilizing, and coalition-building among women especially. We’ve done it before, we can do it again, and we’re going to have to do it this fall, because our democracy depends on it.

There’s a pivotal scene in Act Two that I think encapsulates the thesis of the incompleteness of the fight. We’ve been inspired by our ancestors, but now it’s on us as the younger generation to lift up our elders, and also let them know that we’ve got it from here.