The suffragists still demand a hearing
'Suffs' runs through Sunday at Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.
This review by longtime Charlotte arts critic Lawrence Toppman was published by The Charlotte Ledger on March 11, 2026. You can find out more about The Charlotte Ledger’s commitment to smart local news and information and sign up for our newsletter for free here. Ledger subscribers can add the Toppman on the Arts newsletter on their “My Account” page.
Review: ‘Suffs’ turns the long, complicated fight for women’s voting rights into an energetic, thoughtful musical that shows how the struggle for equality still isn’t finished
by Lawrence Toppman
My online Latin lexicon tells me “suffragium” — the root of many words, including “suffragist” — has multiple meanings: the right of voting, a judgement or opinion, even approbation or applause. Darned if they don’t all apply to “Suffs,” whose national tour has reached Charlotte.
It’s about women’s multi-decade battle to have a chance to elect public officials in the United States. In my opinion, it deserved the Tony Awards that it won in 2024 for best book and best score, though it lost best musical to the equally impressive “The Outsiders.” Its message of equality long deferred and not yet in reach deserves a hearing. And my own applause was lost among that of a whooping crowd Tuesday night at Belk Theater.
The all-female show starts with a single focus: How women should best convince lawmakers, specifically President Woodrow Wilson, to support an amendment in the 1910s giving women the right to cast ballots.
It expands powerfully from there to encompass many issues: the difference between a wise but timid older generation and a passionate younger one, the delayed enfranchisement of African-American women (who would be prevented from voting long after it was legal), the deep-rooted patriarchal social and political system in the United States.
Shaina Taub, the only solo creator to win Tonys for score and book in the same show, keeps the playing field pretty level. It’s not anti-male: The duplicitous Wilson (amusing Jenny Ashman) may be hissable, but stalwart aide Dudley Malone (vigorously likeable Brandi Porter) rebels when he understands the economic and marital powerlessness of the suffragists. Firebrand Alice Paul (powerful Maya Keleher) wins us over immediately, but wary elder Carrie Chapman Catt (strong-voiced Marya Grandy) gets to make the case for caution and patience.
Though the show was in workshops during Donald Trump’s first term, it seems especially relevant during his second: President Wilson supports an unpopular foreign war that divides citizens at home, fires subordinates who disagree with him, brands protestors “traitors” and has them jailed without trials, then lies about harsh conditions in prison.
Its DNA comes from two great musicals, “1776” and “Hamilton.” You see the former in the political infighting, disagreement about tactics and big climatic vote, which comes down to one uncertain representative changing his mind at the last minute. (Spoiler alert: The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was certified in August 1920.)
You see the latter in unusual casting, such as rousing Joyce Meimei Zheng as Polish socialist Ruza Wenclawska and earthy Mónica Tulia Ramírez as seductive socialite Inez Milholland; in the rhythms of numbers where sung speech sometimes takes over from melody; and in the large cast of characters Taub manages to delineate for us and make relatable 100 years later. (All the major ones are based on real people.)
“Suffs” never feels overstuffed. The debates between crusading journalist Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton, full of gravitas) and her professor friend Mary Church Terrell (dignified Trisha Jeffrey) may seem like side issues at first, as Wells wants the suffragist movement to include a strong anti-lynching platform. But they’re not. Freedom, presumably guaranteed by the Constitution to all, must really be applied to all, or America has failed.
The show ends in the 1960s, with the elderly Paul — now perhaps the “old fogy” she once accused Catt of being — championing the Equal Rights Amendment she wrote with Crystal Eastman almost half a century before. That amendment, which has been discussed in Congress and the courts for decades without resolution, remains on the table today. By reminding us of that, “Suffs” shows how far women had to go for their early rights, and how the road toward full equality still winds far into the distance.
If You’re Going
“Suffs” runs through March 15 at Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St., at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
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Lawrence Toppman covered the arts for 40 years at The Charlotte Observer before retiring in 2020. Now, he’s back in the critic’s chair for the Charlotte Ledger — look for his reviews several times each month in the Charlotte Ledger.
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