“Suffs” (short for suffragists) is a new Broadway musical about women’s fight more than a century ago for a “radical” idea: the right to vote. Correspondent Martha Teichner talks with two of the show’s producers, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, about the importance of art to spread a political message. She also talks with cast members, including the show’s writer and star Shaina Taub, who says “Suffs” has a timely message: “Every generation has to fight to protect these rights and freedoms again and again and again.” @suffsmusical
I honestly had no idea this musical was brewing, but I went looking for a few videos after watching the one above.
Check out the full company in this preview presentation, which includes two songs new to the upcoming Broadway production, featuring a book, music, and lyrics by Shaina Taub.
Shaina Taub, Kim Blanck, Ally Bonino, Hannah Cruz, and Nadia Dandashi perform “Great American Bitch” from Broadway’s new musical Suffs at the historic Cooper Union Great Hall on February 28, 2024. A “remarkable, epic new musical” (Variety) that explores the suffragists’ relentless pursuit of the right to vote. Book, music, and lyrics by Shaina Taub. Directed by Leigh Silverman. Now on Broadway.
Here’s a link to the official YouTube page
This is an open thread
Baud
I haven’t looked up what Hillary has been up to lately, but it looks like she’s continuing to live her best life. She deserves it.
In another timeline, we’d be at the end of her second term.
Yutsano
Once again, fuck James Comey.
HumboldtBlue
Oh my, this looks fantastic, my knowledge of the suffragette movement is woeful, and it’s nearing the top of my list as a subject to read and watch about. This will be a perfect starting point.
karen marie
I noticed a few people mentioning they read Marina Hyde’s column in the Guardian. Did you know that she and Richard Osman do a podcast (posted to Youtube) called The Rest is Entertainment?
Inside baseball – to me – is endlessly fascinating, no matter the industry.
I wish I could remember the name of it or who the hosts were (mind like a sieve) but there was one done by comedians about comedy several years ago. I don’t think it was on youtube. I’ve done a bit of a look for it in my bookmarks but can’t find it. I did find Rule of Three, however, which is very funny and an interesting look into the minds of comedians.
Hope you all are enjoying your Trans Sunday!
Geoduck
The late Glynis Johns singing her suffragette song.
karen marie
I listened to “Great American Bitch,” and it sounds an awful lot like Denis Leary’s anthem but – and I say this knowing I’m going to get a lot of frowns – not half as clever.
Melancholy Jaques
@Yutsano:
And FTFNYT
piratedan
@karen marie: Kevin Pollak had a very good one where he interviewed other actors and comedians about the craft and their roles and performances. Unsure if he’s still doing it, but used to be named kevinpollakchatshow. I still have to admit that his Shatner and Walken impressions are still awesome.
NotMax
Probably shall whitewash (or ignore) how the women’s suffrage movement and the Prohibition movement were joined at the hip.
Matt McIrvin
@NotMax: Though really, that’s not as damning as it sounds, given how drunk nearly everyone was almost all the time.
mrmoshpotato
@Yutsano:
Say it loud! Say it proud!
trollhattan
Ever buy a new vacuum to discover to your horror that you probably haven’t REALLY vacuumed in years?
We have.
The horrors that have gone into the trash the last day have been part of the decor all this time.
NotMax
@trollhattan
“Wow! The carpeting is beige. Who knew?”
:)
Dan B
@trollhattan: I bought a Shark brand vacuum that is incredible. Unfortunately Wobbles the orange Temple Lion only needs 24 hours to make it look like we haven’t cleaned in weeks.
Raven
The Kitchen Sisters
https://kitchensisters.org/present/
Little known stories of pioneering architects — Julia Morgan, the first accredited female architect in California, who designed Hearst Castle and was nearly written out of the history books. Natalie de Blois, who helped imagine the first glass skyscrapers on Park Avenue by day and raised four children by night. Amaza Lee Meredith, a Black queer modernist architect from the 1930s South who helped establish Sag Harbor as a haven for Black intellectuals, artists and beachcombers.
Baud
@Raven:
I don’t do podcasts but that sounds neat.
Raven
@Baud: I stumbled on it while listening to The History of Rock Music in 500 Songs about All Along The Watchtower, both were great!
MagdaInBlack
@Raven: Bookmarked and listening to the Braveheart Grandmothers one now. Thank you !
Raven
@MagdaInBlack: cool!
Baud
Via Reddit
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I read that this morning. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the state, most for the worse, including the population nearly tripling during my lifetime. But the Trump years truly wrecked the joint.
One thing that’s frustrating is hearing people who love to shit on the state denigrating us with a broad brush as if ALL the residents are MAGA shitheads. In fact, most are imported.
When I was a kid, about 1 in 4 residents were born here. Now it’s something like 1 in 10, and let me tell you, America is not sending its best!
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
I don’t know the stats for other states, but 1 in 10 sounds insanely low.
Craig
@Raven: great stuff. Got a chance to see a live recording a few years ago. Thanks for the reminder.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: Do you like that John Sayles movie about Florida?
HumboldtBlue
@Baud:
It sure as hell sounds insanely low. Florida’s problem is that it’s the retirement state for the entire northeastern seaboard because of the drastic difference in weather. California, on the other hand, is bordered by states that have a similar climate and without a doubt, the best state in the union to live.
Raven
@Betty Cracker: I was talking with a friend, Cuban-American from Tampa. She said her dad played cards in a joint and she went to pick him up. She walked in and the bartender said “what are you doing in here, this is men only”!
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
You should see the population of LA County.
Between 1940 and 1950 it close to doubled. Between 1940 and 2023 it has quadrupled and is nearly 10 million. That’s not the entire state that’s one county. In square miles LA County is 4751 and Florida is 53,625 (that’s land, as you well know more than a bit of FL is water) For comparison NYC population is around 8 1/2 million.
My point is that the population of a lot of the US has grown just a tad, and some places have grown a few tads, because they are nice places to live. And yes I’ve spent some time in FL and it is a pretty nice place.
Mike in NC
The Republican candidate for NC governor calls himself the “Black Trump” and is every bit as despicable as the original. Mark Robinson has said out loud — here in the year 2024 — that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
HumboldtBlue
Sure, we Phillies fans would have booed Jesus if he had dropped the cross (credit Bob Uecker), but that doesn’t mean we don’t have the best fans in the whole damn sport, as this little warrior proves!
Mike E
@Mike in NC: And Kelly Daughtry is the female version. Dirt bags embracing a dirt bag.
Lyrebird
Not a fan of musicals, but I am so stoked they made this.
Re-watched the Mary Poppins movie recently. Never liked it much before, but now I see there’s all sorts of snide jabs at suffragette mom in the movie.
Princess
@Baud: Fascinating article. Thanks. It interests me that some of the leavers described themselves as Republican/conservative, but we’re still put off by the hard right politics.
Geminid
@Ruckus: I’m reading a novel set in 1840s Los Angeles, Louis L’Amour’s The Lonesome Gods (1983). When the hero arrives as a 10 year-old boy, LA is a sleepy California town of 5,000. But the newly arrived Anglos have big plans….
L’Amour lived in Los Angeles and did a lot of research for the novels he set in Southern California. Most of his books run around 150-170 pages, but The Lonesome Gods is a long one, at 542 pages. Parts of it are set in the desert, in the Thousand Palms area.
thruppence
There is a 2015 British movie called suffragettes. It’s actually very good.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Geminid: The Activities Director in my building once worked as an administrative assistant to L’Amour. When she told me that, I was awe struck.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: I’ll believe it when I see it in actual statistics. Looking at population change alone rapidly leads to the conclusion that Americans WANT to be ruled by fascists and are moving to where they can make that happen.
Torrey
Just wanted to say that this musical sounds awesome–thanks for posting this, TaMara. It may not be the next Hamilton, but I’m glad to see the suffragists getting attention, particularly this election year.
J.
Thanks for sharing this, TaMara! I’ve been following Suffs for a while now and have been on the fence about getting tickets when I’m in NYC this summer as tickets are insanely expensive. But after seeing the CBS clip, I told my mother we should go.
Also, re Florida, as Betty wrote, not everyone who lives or moves here is a MAGAt. My husband and I, who are liberal Dems originally from NYC, moved to apolitical Sanibel from supposedly liberal CT because we fell in love with Sanibel, how the people who lived and visited there really cared about the environment and each other, unlike where we lived in CT. And we met a bunch of people like us there. Sadly, we have found it hard to find those people where we currently live, though we know they are here somewhere.