Shaina Taub talks about ‘Suffs’ musical, Women’s Empowerment

Even before she started writing the musical “Suffs,” Shaina Taub wanted to create a project that would testify to women’s empowerment.

The New York actor and composer was working on a gender-swapped adaptation of the Robin Hood legend in 2014 when she received a copy of Doris Stevens’ “Jailed for Freedom.” Published in 1920, the book is a firsthand account of the women’s suffrage movement and the ratification of women’s suffrage. the 19th amendment to the US Constitution, which recognized women’s right to vote.

It was then, Taub said, that the seed for “Suffs” was planted.

“I was looking for a story about a group of girls who banded together and took over a system,” she told JS in an interview. “This was exactly what I was looking for.”

Taub makes “Suffs,” now playing at the Music Box Theater in New York the second woman in history and the first in more than 50 years to write the book, music and lyrics for a Broadway musical in which she also stars. (The first was Micki Grantwho starred in her 1972 musical “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope.”)

Taub plays suffragist Alice Paul, who is at odds with an establishment activist, Carrie Chapman Catt.Jenn Colella), despite their shared mission to convince the U.S. government to give women the right to vote.

Paul recruits a group of young suffragists, including Lucy Burns (Ally Bonino), Inez Milholland (Hannah Cruz), and Ruza Wenclawska (Kim Blanck), to organize a march on Washington in the midst of Woodrow Wilson’s presidential inauguration, with the following: aim to pressure him into supporting him. a federal suffrage amendment.

After an off-Broadway run in 2022, ‘Suffs’ opened on Broadway in April to largely positive reviews. By then, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai had already done so registered as producers.

Later this month, many of the cast of the musical, which consists entirely of female and non-binary actors, will perform during the 2024 Tony Awardswhere the performance is nominated for six awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. On Thursday, the cast recording of “Suffs”. was released digitally on Atlantic Records and features all 36 songs from the musical – including the comedic “Ladies,” performed by actor Grace McLean as Wilson, and the rousing “Keep Marching” – in pristine quality.

As far as musical representations of American history go, “Suffs” has done just that compared Through some critics to Hamilton. Both musicals premiered off-Broadway at New York’s Public Theater, and like “Suffs,” “Hamilton” also starred composer and book writer Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“My hope was to model as a full multihyphenate for girls, which I think is an undisputed avenue for male creatives,” Taub said of the Miranda comparisons. “It was exciting for me to do what I love, which is perform in something I created, and show the many girls and children in the audience that, yes, you can do this too.”

As for how “Suffs” will be received in the long run in America’s divisive political climate, she added: “It’s hard to think about the ominous nature of the next five months, but I hope that hearing about the history of activism and the victories and failures in this country can give people some energy right now.

Taub’s next project also grapples with female empowerment, albeit in a lighter manner. She collaborated with Elton John on a musical adaptation of “The devil wears Prada,” which opens in London this fall and stars Vanessa Williams as fashion editor Miranda Priestly.

“It was interesting to work with such a beloved piece of pop culture because you want to give people what they love and also something new,” Taub said. “The great thing about a musical is that you can really delve into the life of a character. In a movie it’s more about a close-up of their face.”

Working with John, she added, was a “surreal” experience.

“[At first] I thought, ‘How am I ever going to walk into a studio with a rock legend, a childhood hero of mine, without going crazy or passing out?'” she recalled. “But he gave me a big hug and just treated me like a colleague, despite our differences in age, experience and celebrity. He has such a love for songwriting and making music, so we had a kinship.