Review Roundup: SUFFS North American Tour

The North American Tour of SUFFS, the empowering and acclaimed Tony Award-winning musical, is now underway! Read the reviews as they come in here.

Created by Shaina Taub, the first woman ever to independently win Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score in the same season, SUFFS boldly explores the triumphs and failures of a struggle for equality that’s far from over. 

The tour cast features Maya Keleher as Alice Paul, Danyel Fulton as Ida B. Wells, Marya Grandy as Carrie Chapman Catt, Jenny Ashman as President Woodrow Wilson, Monica Tulia Ramirez as Inez Milholland, Gwynne Wood as Lucy Burns, Joyce Meimei Zheng as Ruza Wenclawska, Livvy Marcus as Doris Stevens, Trisha Jeffrey as Mary Church Terrell, Brandi Porter as Dudley Malone, Laura Stracko as Alva Belmont/Phoebe Burn, Tami Dahbura as Mollie Hay, and Victoria Lauren Pekel as Phyllis Terrell/Robin.

Rounding out the company are Abigail Aziz, Ariana Burks, Annalese Fusaro, Lucy Godínez, Marissa Hecker, Amanda K. Lopez, Merrill Peiffer, Jenna Lea Rosen, and Gretchen Shope. 

Jay Irwin, BroadwayWorld: Now, for a little backstory, I managed to see this at The Public Theatre in 2022 before it went on to Broadway and it’s Tony wins for best book and best score. And honestly, I didn’t care for it. I felt it didn’t flow well, and the songs didn’t move things along and were too repetitious. But I kept hearing how it had gotten so much better and now I’m forced to eat a little crow as the show has grown by leaps and bounds. I still feel there’s a bit too much repetition, but the rest of my qualms are completely gone. With a beautiful pacing and staging from director Leigh Silverman, Taub’s show doesn’t just tell the story, it makes you feel it and its importance. And the songs are lovely.

Doug Bursch, The Moderate Voice: Oh, before I forget, the best part of Suffs is not the message but simply the fact that it is a great-sounding musical. Great songs, great voices, great storytelling, no slow points, no throwaway tunes or scenes. It is just a really, really good musical. Comparisons to Hamilton are obvious and I think justified in all the best ways. In the historical musical genre, Suffs tells the story well, keeps the audience interested, makes us laugh, pulls at our heartstrings, and calls us to advocacy, or at least gets us to consider the possibility of doing something more than endlessly doomscrolling.

Dusty Somers, The Seattle Times: There’s a tension within “Suffs” that isn’t fully grappled with: How do you reconcile the gains of an inspiring, important feminist victory with the reality of its shortcomings? That the 19th Amendment was effectively only a victory for white women sits on the show’s margins, explicitly acknowledged in a halfhearted epilogue and perfunctorily dramatized with the inclusion of Black civil rights activists Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton) and Mary Church Terrell (Trisha Jeffrey).

Drew Sitton, Downtown News: Taub’s show is a triumph, with an enthralling plot, moving emotional moments and exceptional music and lyricism. The cast and crew carried her vision, with impeccable vocals all around.

Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune: Shaina Taub won Tony Awards for both her “Suffs” book and original score, and it’s easy to see why. Her engaging, fast-moving story has humor, surprises, poignance and heartbreak. And her often-propulsive songs, articulately sung by an excellent, all-female cast, beautifully advance the story with wit, conciseness, power and sweetness.

Herbert Paine, BroadwayWorld: Rather than preach, SUFFS lets its politics emerge through personality. Its cheeky, pointed opening number, Let Mother Vote, is led with sly precision by genteel suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt (Marya Grandy). And when a more youthful Alice Paul (Maya Keleher) enters as a storm in petticoats, conflict follows. It’s old-guard respectability meets next-wave radicalism, and the two immediately clash.

Steve Murray, BroadwayWorld: Taub’s score is fantastic, right from the opening number “Let Mother Vote” to "Finish the Fight", to the stirring "Wait My Turn". There’s both humor and heartbreaking drama when the suffs are jailed for opposing US involvement in WWI. The women see themselves as nurturers to both their men, so why not the nation. The men, mostly represented by Woodrow Wilson, are misogynistic chauvinists. Direction and staging by Leigh Siverman (Violet, Yellow Face) is terrific and the ensemble shines from start to finish. Its a rollercoaster of emotions well worth the ride.

David John Chavez, Marin Independent Journal: History and progress rarely follow a straight line. “How long must women wait for liberty” is one of the many questions the musical asks. The show is dedicated to the sacrifices made by the suffragettes — hunger strikes, blood on the brow, bodies collapsing from exhaustion — but what’s not to be forgotten is that mothers, daughters and sisters were there for legacy. When all was said and done, the 19th amendment was there. But unless the fight continues, those inalienable rights may just disappear.

Neily Raymond, The Daily Californian: The Black suffragists who appear in “Suffs” serve as plot devices more often than not. When Paul wants to concede to Southerners’ demands to relegate Black women to the back of the protest march, Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton) shows up suddenly and randomly. “I hear you quote Frederick Douglass on your soapbox,” she sings. “But you want me to wait my turn?”

Janea Melido, KQED: Though set over a century ago, the musical still speaks volumes about what it means to fight for something when it seems like the odds are against you. In today’s political climate, its message feels less like a history lesson, and more like a call to action.

Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle: Among the smartest parts of “Suffs” is that there’s no final dreams-come-true moment. The instant that women win the right to vote, the show pivots to focus on Ida, Mary and Mary’s daughter Phyllis (Victoria Pekel), who know it’ll still be years before women of their race can vote.

Tyler Hinton, BroadwayWorld: The direction by Leigh Silverman and choreography by Mayte Natalio employ deceptively simple imagery and movement to underscore the fascinating history and Taub’s engrossing storytelling, packing a real punch, visually, mentally, and emotionally.

Nancy Van Valkenburg, Gephardt Daily: Tour scenic design, by Christine Peters, was functional and moved the story forward. Lighting, by Lap Chi Chu, was innovative, and simulated flash photography from the back of the auditorium, drawing the audience into the story. Costumes, by Paul Tazewell, defined the characters by age, class and beliefs.

Evan Henerson, BroadwayWorld: It's no accident that recent Broadway musicals with a historical and political current have found receptive audiences, particularly those (here’s looking at you, HAMILTON, SIX and the no-male 1776 revival) that have spanned the two Trump presidencies. In addition to plenty of young men and women for whom this history lesson is essential, one suspects the audiences of SUFFS were out on the streets during the 2025 No Kings rallies. Never have the curtain-closing words “keep marching on” felt more urgent.

Russell Tom, Social Thrills: “Suffs – The Musical” is as relevant today as it was then. Condensing and packing decades of history, figures, and events into an emotional 2.5 hour musical is an overwhelming challenge that the creative team has successful met. The best musical based on American history since “Hamilton”. If any viewer should feel a particular matter has been omitted, just know there are other resources to choose from besides one medium.

Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times: The show might not have the crackling vitality of “Hamilton” or the bluesy poignancy of “The Scottsboro Boys.” It’s a good deal more earnest than either of these history-laden musicals. There’s an educational imperative at the heart of “Suffs,” which deals with a subject that has been marginalized in schools and in the collective consciousness.

Average Rating: 78.8%