The Suffrajets Present A Musical Seance: Onward Again, Victoria

Had she not been the subject of the Broadway musical, Onward, Victoria, I -- like most Americans -- would probably have never heard of Victoria Woodhull. But even without the song and dance, "The Wicked Woodhull", as her adversaries called her, was a sizzling character in American history.

Decades before women won the right to vote, Victoria Woodhull was the Equal Rights Party candidate running against incumbent Ulysses S. Grant for the office of President of the United States. Although the party selected Frederick Douglass as her vice-presidential running mate, he ignored the nomination on the advice of others in the suffrage movement. For although she was known nationwide as an activist for women's rights, some of her ideas on gender equality were so extreme for her time that many of her fellow suffragettes thought she was hurting the movement by frightening and alienating the more conservative public.

Soon after settling in New York, she and her sister Tennie Claflin became the first female stockbrokers on Wall Street and together they published the popular newspaper, Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly. They were both known for being clairvoyant, with Tennie selling customers spiritual advice and Victoria claiming to use psychic powers to predict the stock market with remarkable accuracy. But it was Victoria's sex life that dominated her public reputation. An advocate and practitioner of Free Love, Victoria Woodhull saw nothing wrong with people taking as many lovers as they like and felt marriage could be healthiest and happiest when both partners had the equal right to have sex with others, if they chose to do so, without disgracing their spouse. Even today, the privacy of one's love life and the sexual practices between consenting adults is still a political issue.

Presented vaudeville style as a bill of musical acts, scenes, monologues and a bit of burlesque, The Suffrajets Present A Musical Seance is a smarty done 2-person tribute to Woodhull and Claflin, celebrating their lives, their revolutionary spirit and their struggle to create a free society.

Co-created by director Dia Shepardson, Laurie Norton (who plays Tennie) and Tess Gill (who plays Victoria and composed the music along with Tom Bartos), the show has a decidedly contemporary energy, mixing history with a modern-day surrealist verve best exemplified by a scene where the two are belting out a punk rock anthem, dressed in fine white corsets and tartan skirts.

In a moving and nicely underplayed monologue, Tennie uses her clairvoyance to help a prostitute with an STD and an abused wife who needs to be convinced to leave her husband. Victoria is seen bravely making a speech through a heckling crowd, a frequent occurrence in her life.

In lighter moments, the two women gage their popularity by reading a series of newspaper quotes, both critical and complimentary. And the goofy opening "song" (the two come out with a ukulele and cello, but only bang on them rhythmically) they trade yuks like, "How many suffragists does it take to screw in a light bulb?" "None! We have to keep those women in the dark!"

With two engaging performances The Suffrajets Present A Musical Seance is a fresh, funny and provocative salute to two inspiring New York radicals.