Women's suffrage takes center stage as U.S. faces 'an assault on storytelling'

Shaina Taub is lone the 2nd woman, aft Micki Grant, to prima successful a Broadway philharmonic for which she besides wrote the book, euphony and lyrics. Her amusement “Suffs,” which is astir the women’s suffrage question starring up to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, opens Tuesday astatine the Hollywood Pantages Theatre arsenic portion of its inaugural nationalist tour.

“None of this was ever promised,” said Taub successful a Zoom telephone from her dressing country astatine New York’s Lincoln Center, wherever she is presently starring arsenic Emma Goldman successful “Ragtime.” “It’s truthful uncommon that a amusement gets to Broadway, fto unsocial runs for a year.”

It’s adjacent rarer for a amusement to beryllium nominated for six Tony Awards, including champion musical. Taub won 2 Tonys for publication and archetypal score, beaming from the signifier astatine past year’s ceremonial — arsenic the eventual multi-hyphenate — successful a plum-colored satin dress.

When the amusement launched its North American circuit successful September, Taub stepped distant from the relation of suffragist and question person Alice Paul, but not from her arrogant perch arsenic the musical’s matriarch.

It was fitting that my interrogation with Taub took spot connected Nov. 4, Election Day. Taub is simply a existent believer successful the antiauthoritarian process, and successful the powerfulness of a unified populace to effect existent and lasting change. She volunteered astatine the polls successful 2020, and said predetermination days are among her favorite.

“It’s peaceful and everyone is saying hullo to each other. We don’t cognize what’s gonna hap with the election, but we cognize that we showed up,” she said. “And we cognize that we cared, and that’s what matters nary substance the outcome.”

“The Trump medication is trying to rewrite what’s successful our past books, trying to revise what we’re showing successful our museums and what we’re talking astir connected NPR and PBS,” Shaina Taub said.

(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)

Taub began enactment connected “Suffs” much than a decennary agone erstwhile she was looking for a precise circumstantial communicative to tell. She wanted a “Band of Sisters” communicative astir a radical of women taking connected the system. That’s erstwhile theatrical shaper Rachel Sussman approached her with the publication “Jailed for Freedom,” written by suffragist and ineligible rights advocator Doris Stevens and published successful 1920.

The publication is simply a firsthand relationship of the National Women’s Party and its combat for suffrage, including however successful 1917 the suffragists became the archetypal American citizens to picket extracurricular the White House, and however they were locked up and beaten by situation guards during the Night of Terror astatine the Occoquan Workhouse successful Virginia.

Taub knew nary of that history.

“It conscionable blew my mind,” she said. “This is the communicative of my ancestors. And I’ve been looking precocious and debased for this.”

Taub was 25 astatine the clip and she couldn’t judge that she went done the nationalist schoolhouse strategy uniquely bare for this peculiar story, but it ne'er reached her until that moment.

“I conscionable fired connected each cylinders,” she said.

In penning the show, Taub tried to make a philharmonic that encompassed much than conscionable the circumstantial feminist concerns of its main storyline. She said she wanted to “write a communicative astir societal movements much broadly that could beryllium applicable to each kinds of fights, and that radical successful each kinds of movements for state tin spot themselves successful this communicative — men, women, everybody.”

Marya Grandy, who plays Carrie Chapman Catt, and institution successful the archetypal nationalist touring institution of “Suffs,” a philharmonic astir the women’s suffrage movement.

(Joan Marcus)

Art often takes connected caller meaning arsenic caller past unfolds earlier it, and that was the lawsuit with “Suffs,” Taub said. It was primitively scheduled to premiere astatine New York’s Public Theater successful 2020, but it got delayed owed to the COVID-19 pandemic. It yet began previews connected March 13, 2022, conscionable 3 months earlier the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.

A close that had seemed indelible to women had abruptly been taken away. The nationalist turmoil that unfolded that heated summertime resonated with “Suffs,” Taub recalled.

A fewer years later, the governmental became precise personal.

In her quest to person a child, Taub encountered difficulties, and ended up being hospitalized doubly successful bid to acquisition dilation and curettage — a surgical process often called a D&C, which is an involution that helps a pistillate negociate a miscarriage.

“Even me, arsenic a pro-choice, progressive lady, it had ne'er afloat dawned connected maine until I had my ain idiosyncratic brushwood with this symptom that the attraction for a miscarriage is the aforesaid attraction — much often than not — arsenic the attraction for an abortion,” Taub said. “I saw the amusement for the archetypal clip successful a agelong clip successful September astatine the tour’s archetypal stop, and it deed maine successful that full caller way. Because it’s frightening to deliberation that we’re inactive surviving successful a clip successful 2025 wherever women are being denied basal wellness attraction each astir the country.”

That’s wherefore it’s important to support marching, said Taub, referencing the rubric of 1 of the main songs successful “Suffs.”

Taub believes that organizers request a multiplicity of tactics to effect change. That held existent successful 1917 and it inactive holds existent much than 100 years aboriginal erstwhile the U.S. is warring against what Taub calls “an battle connected American storytelling.”

“The Trump medication is trying to rewrite what’s successful our past books, trying to revise what we’re showing successful our museums and what we’re talking astir connected NPR and PBS,” Taub said. “And it’s due to the fact that I deliberation they cognize however almighty communicative is, and however almighty it is erstwhile we cognize thing that happened to our ancestors and we cognize a situation that they overcame.”

The fearfulness of those successful charge, she said, is that if radical archer stories, “we mightiness get ideas successful our caput astir however almighty we mightiness be.”

At it’s core, “Suffs” is astir the powerfulness of radical and movements to marque the satellite a amended spot — adjacent erstwhile the means of doing truthful are not ever successful alignment for the assorted groups moving for change.

Monica Tulia Ramirez arsenic Inez Milholland successful the archetypal nationalist touring institution of “Suffs.”

(Joan Marcus)

“We can’t expect coalition-building to not beryllium messy and that the messiness is portion of the antiauthoritarian process,” Taub said. “It has been a portion of assemblage organizing since the dawn of time.”

In 1917, that meant Carrie Chapman Catt having beverage with President Wilson wrong the White House portion Paul and her friends tried to pain him successful effigy successful Lafayette Square, Taub said. And today, that means full-time ACLU litigators warring the battles successful courts, portion the Working Families Party takes to the polls and activists protestation successful the streets astatine No Kings rallies, she added.

“It ever matters to measurement retired successful the airy of day, successful nationalist with chap citizens and assemblage members, and to accidental retired large to each different joyfully that you judge successful a amended future,” Taub said.