This past week has been the time to visit The Public's Suffs, which began previews March 13 and will officially open April 6 with a twice-extended run through May 15. Journalist and activist Gloria Steinem dropped in with U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to see the cast and crew and celebrate Steinem's March 25 birthday. The visit comes days after Lin-Manuel Miranda also stopped in at the production.
Suffs examines the suffragists and forgotten women who worked against divides and oppression while fighting for women's right to participate in democracy. Set in the years leading up to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Suffs brings to the stage both their victories and their failures. With its investigation into American history, politics, and the movement for women's suffrage, the production's appeal to Steinem, Ocasio-Cortez, and Miranda is easy to understand.
READ: Shaina Taub's Suffs Have Simply Gotta March
The visit comes only a few days after a visit to Suffs by Lin-Manuel Miranda reunited Miranda and Soo, who starred together in Miranda's Hamilton. Soo played Alexander Hamilton's wife Eliza when the musical made its premiere Off-Broadway, also at The Public, in 2015 and transferred with it to Broadway.
The production stars Taub alongside Tony winner Nikki M. James, Tony nominees Phillipa Soo and Jenn Colella, Jenna Bainbridge, Ally Bonino, Tsilala Brock, Hannah Cruz, Nadia Dandashi, Aisha de Haas, Stephanie Everett, Amina Faye, Holly Gould, Cassondra James, Jaygee Macapugay, Grace McLean, Susan Oliveras, Mia Pak, Liz Pearce, Monica Tulia Ramirez, J. Riley Jr., Angela Travino, Ada Westfall, and Aurelia Williams.
Tony nominee Leigh Silverman directs the production which also features music direction and supervision by Andrea Grody, choreography and creative consulting by Obie winner Raja Feather Kelly, scenic design by Mimi Lien, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Sun Hee Kil, sound effects design by Daniel Kluger, hair, wigs, and makeup design by Matthew Armentrout, dramaturgy by Ayanna Thompson, production stage management by Melanie J. Lisby, stage management by Amber Johnson and Jessie Moore, orchestrations by Mike Brun, and prop management by Corinne Gologursky.
For tickets and more information, visit PublicTheater.org.
Shaina Taub and Jenn Colella
Nikki M. James
Grace McLean and Tsilala Brock
Phillipa Soo
Leigh Silverman
Grace McLean
Company of SUFFS
Ally Bonino, Shaina Taub, Nadia Dandashi, Hannah Cruz, and Liz Pearce
Jenn Colella
Susan Oliveras
Shaina Taub
Mia Pak and Ada Westfall
Jenn Colella and Nikki M. James
Company of SUFFS
