‘Suffs’ Has Got the Stuff at Broadway San Diego

By Sandi Masori 

SAN DIEGO— what can I say about Suffs (currently playing at Broadway San Diego) except Go. See. It.

From the moment we sat down we were taken on a breathtaking emotional and musical journey. ( Even though, as we get ready for the next election, we clearly know the end result of the suffrage movement.)  The show opens with the well-heeled old guard of the original suffrage movement celebrating 60 years of the movement and singing about letting mother vote.

In comes Alice Paul (Maya Keleher), a young rebel with new ideas and energy for how to get women the vote. The two movements don’t exactly see eye-to-eye, as Carrie Chapman Catt (Marya Grandy) from NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association) believes that the vote would only come by being nice, polite ladies who mind their p’s and q’s.  Alice Paul, on the other hand wants to make some noise and force President Woodrow Wilson (Jenny Ashman) to make it happen.

Paul is eventually joined by Lucy Burns (Gwynne Wood), Inez Milholland (Monica Tulia Ramirez), Ruza Wenclawska (Joyce Meimei Zheng), and Doris Stevens (Libby Marcus). Together they planned a march on Washington in what became the 1913 Suffrage parade.

There is also a Black women’s contingent. Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton), and Mary Church Terrell (Trisha Jeffrey) are also somewhat at odds over whether or not to join the march, even if they have to be in the back. At issue is whether they should support a movement that is ignoring them- they squabble over which is more important, women’s rights, or rights for Black people. Does it make sense for them to advocate for one, and ignore the larger needs of the other?

In spite of all the internal arguments and differences in methodology, in 1920, at long last, women were granted the vote.  It would still be another 50 years before we could have our own credit cards, but I digress…

The set is gorgeous. There are two large ornate wooden doors that look like cabinets and slide open and closed to show the location- whether it’s the National Women’s Party offices, or the White House, or other locations.

There’s an LED screen that’s put to great use, and I have to say that the show makes incredible use of backlighting, freeze frames and silhouettes for a very cinematic effect.

The action is non-stop, and there’s not even a second of the show where you’re thinking about the time, the pacing is so well done. A few of the songs are pretty ear-wormy; “Let Mother Vote,” “G.A.B” (short for Great American Bitch), and “Keep Marching” come to mind.

I especially liked the scene where Doris Stevens is explaining (in song) to President Wilson’s assistant Dudley Malone (Brandi Porter) what would happen if they were married, namely that she would lose all her rights and become his property. A death sentence in her words.

I also liked really liked the vignettes at the end where the fourth wall is broken and the characters tell the audience what actually happened to their real-life counterparts after they won the vote.

Compliments go to the sound engineer. The Civic is notorious for audio issues, and even though it was preview night, it was one of the best performances I’ve heard there.

As for the actors, I was really impressed with Ashman’s Wilson.  Sometimes in all-female-presenting performances, when women play men, they lack the gravitas that the role needs to pull it off. I’m happy to say that is not the case for Ashman or Porter who both do justice to their male characters.

Other standouts are Zheng as Ruza, Keleher as Paul, Ramirez as Inez, Fulton as Wells, Grandy as Catt. Really though, the entire cast was incredible.

While it leaves you on a high note, it also raises questions about how far have we really come? And with so many issues that need solving, and so many groups marginalized even still, which issue should take priority?  I know that many of us are weighing those exact questions now as we measure our need for security as Jews and Zionists against the other liberal values as we try to find our place in the new political reality we’ve found ourselves in, especially since October 7, 2023.

Suffs plays through October 5. Bring your kids Besides being an entertaining show, it’s a great history lesson and civics conversation starter.

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Associate Editor Sandi Masori is a theater and food reviewer for San Diego Jewish World .