Review: SUFFS at Broadway San Diego

“Progress is possible, not guaranteed. It will only be made if we keep marching.” That lyric from SUFFS isn’t just a rousing finale; it’s the show’s heartbeat. Direct from Broadway, this Tony Award-winning musical charges into San Diego with fire, wit, and a powerhouse cast determined to make history sing again.

Shaina Taub’s creation tells the story of the suffragists of 1913, a moment when the women’s movement had already slogged through sixty years with little success. Carrie Chapman Catt (Marya Grandy) leads the old guard of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, who leads the fight through polished luncheons, polite petitions, endless waiting, and asking to” let mother vote”. Then Alice Paul (Maya Keleher) storms in, radical, uncompromising, and unwilling to politely sip tea while democracy drags its feet. She forms her own committee with her Best Friend, Lucy Burns (Gwynne Wood), the glamorous crusader Inez Milholland (Monica Tulia Ramirez), the earnest writer Doris Stevens (Livvy Marcus), and the immigrant agitator Ruza Wenclawska (Joyce Meimei Zheng). Paul demands not just patience but action in the form of protests, hunger strikes, and confrontation with the highest office in the land.

The musical wisely centers not only white suffragists but also the Black women so often pushed aside in mainstream narratives. Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton) and Mary Church Terrell (Trisha Jeffrey) claim their rightful place in the story, insisting that progress for some women cannot come at the expense of others. Fulton’s blistering “Wait My Turn” brought down the house, sung with righteous anger, heartbreak, and unstoppable will.

Keleher leads the charge as Alice Paul with authority and vulnerability, her clear voice anchoring the production. Grandy’s Catt is commanding, Ramirez’s Inez positively radiant (and yes, I would wear every cape she swirls across the stage), and Wood gives Lucy Burns a mix of humor and steel. Each woman commands attention while serving the ensemble’s greater power: the undeniable reminder that collective voices carry farther.

Still, there’s laughter tucked between the battle cries. Marcus’s Doris and Brandi Porter’s Dudley Malone (Woodrow Wilson’s confidant and, eventually, suffrage ally) are utterly charming as their flirtation blooms into the playful duet “If We Were Married,” where Doris explains sweetly but pointedly how bad marriage is for her legally and for her autonomy. Understudy Marissa Hecker was patronizingly paternal as President Wilson, bringing gleeful pomposity and comic lechery to her showstopper “Ladies.”

The score, by Taub, is a rich weave of traditional musical theatre, contemporary pop inflections, and rhythmic internal rhyme. The history-remixed energy may invite comparisons to HAMILTON,  but SUFFS feels distinctly its own. Songs like “Find a Way” juggle exposition, character, and call-to-action all at once. This all-woman cast fills the theatre with powerful harmonies that soar.

Design elements elevate the storytelling. Christine Peters’ shifting set slides from parlor to protest in a heartbeat. Lap Chi Chu’s lighting carves haunting silhouettes of women with banners aloft, their shadows stretching across the stage like reinforcements. And Paul Tazewell’s costumes—those iconic white dresses with suffrage sashes—turn a simple stage picture into a gut punch of history made visible.

Yes, this is political theatre. How could it not be? But Taub developed SUFFS long before today’s headlines, reminding us that each generation faces its own version of the fight. The message is clear: progress is not guaranteed; it must be demanded and defended.

Leaving the theatre, I felt the weight of gratitude. I am the wildest dream of these suffragists: educated, outspoken, I can vote, and have the freedom to protest and publish. I doubt the suffragists ever envisioned their fight staged as a full-throated Broadway musical like SUFFS. However, I suspect they’d cheer to see their message still marching forward, evolving, inspiring, and rallying audiences in such a creative, electric way.

How To Get Tickets

SUFFS is playing at Broadway San Diego through October 5th at the San Diego Civic Theatre.  For ticket and showtimes, go to www.broadwaysd.com for details.

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