VOTES FOR WOMEN…
AND A VICTORY
FOR MUSICAL THEATER

History marches forward
with intelligence, heart,
and exhilarating conviction

Marya Grandy as Carrie Chapman Catt and company in the First National Touring Company of Suffs

The national tour of Suffs, Shaina Taub‘s Tony Award-winning musical about the fight for women’s suffrage, arrives in Chicago with its urgency, humor, and emotional power fully intact. More than a history lesson, it presents the movement as a coalition of determined women whose disagreements over strategy prove nearly as formidable as the opposition they face. The result is an inspiring and surprisingly entertaining account of the long campaign that culminated in the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Maya Keleher as Alice Paul and Suffs Company

Brandi Porter as Dudley Malone, Jenny Ashman as President Woodrow Wilson

The musical follows activist Alice Paul (Maya Keleher), whose impatience with gradual reform often clashes with the more measured leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt (Marya Grandy), president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Although the opening number, “Let Mother Vote,” intentionally embraces the stiffness of early twentieth-century political pageantry, the production quickly gains momentum with Alice’s stirring “I Want” song, “Find a Way,” as she commits herself to securing women’s constitutional right to vote.

Danyel Fulton as Ida B. Wells and Suffs Company

Danyel Fulton (Ida Wells), Trisha Jeffrey (Mary Church Terrell), Victoria Pekel (Phyllis Terrell)

By the middle of the first act, Suffs fully finds its voice with “Great American Bitch,” in which the suffragists reclaim an insult hurled at them during a march; with wit and defiance, it brings down the house. From that point forward, the musical confidently balances humor with heartbreak as it follows not only Alice and Carrie but also trailblazing Black activists Mary Church Terrell (Trisha Jeffrey) and Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton), alongside the charismatic Inez Milholland (Monica Tulia Ramirez), a labor lawyer whose passion and idealism become central to the movement’s emotional core.

Monica Tulia Rameriz as Inez Milholland and Suffs Company

Joyce Meimei Zheng (Ruza Wenclawska) and company

The all-female cast is exceptional, with each member bringing individuality and conviction to women whose names deserve wider recognition. But the roles aren’t all women (Paul Tazewell’s smart costumes and Charles G. LaPointe’s wigs and makeup offer effective cross-dressing): Merrill Peiffer (covering for Jenny Ashman) delightfully portrays President Woodrow Wilson, who offers sympathetic words but refuses to back a federal amendment, his political caution bordering on hypocrisy. Brandi Porter makes a strong impression as Dudley Malone, Wilson’s Chief of Staff.

Monica Tulia Ramirez (Inez Milholland)

Brandi Porter as Dudley Malone, Livvy Marcus as Doris Stevens

A clever narrative device keeps us oriented: Doris Stevens, serving as secretary to Alice’s early efforts, reads journal entries aloud, tracking the passing years and lending historical context (the real Doris Stevens’ writings were a cornerstone of Taub’s script). As Doris Stevens, Livvy Marcus shines in a duet with Dudley (Brandi Porter), a sharp reminder of how marriage stripped women of legal identity. Marcus is particularly memorable, as is Joyce Meimei Zheng as Ruza Wenclawska, a Polish factory union organizer and socialist.

Jenny Ashman (President Woodrow Wilson)

Taub’s book avoids turning history into a simplistic tale of heroes and villains. The production succeeds because it never loses sight of the women behind the history books, allowing their victories, frustrations, sacrifices, and disagreements to feel immediate rather than remote. Under Leigh Silverman‘s assured direction, Taub’s score is equally adept at delivering rousing ensemble numbers, intimate character moments, and genuine comic relief, all while keeping the story moving briskly. We are left with an emotional journey that grapples with generational differences in activism—the new guard replacing the old—and how each approach to create change has value, a time and a place. The musical doesn’t shy away from issues of intersectionality and compromise for the sake of progress at the expense of Black women. It presents this important feminist history in its complexity, highlighting the sacrifices these women made to make us all a little more free.

Laura Stracko as Alva Belmont

Suffs entertains as thoroughly as it educates, transforming a familiar chapter of American history into vibrant musical theater. By giving voice to the women whose persistence reshaped American democracy, it reminds us that progress has always depended on those willing to challenge both their opponents and, at times, one another.

Danyel Fulton (Ida B. Wells)

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photos by Joan Marcus

Suffs
national tour
ends on July 19, 2026, at Chicago’s CIBC Theatre
2 hours 30 minutes including intermission
for tickets, visit Broadway in Chicago
tour continues; for dates and cities, visit Suffs

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago