Shaina Taub To Lead Cast Of Her Musical ‘Suffs’ In A Rare Broadway Feat
EXCLUSIVE: Composer-actor Shaina Taub will lead the Broadway cast of her musical Suffs, reprising the role she played in the original, sold-out 2022 Off Broadway production.
The casting makes Taub only the second woman in Broadway history to write the book, music, lyrics and star in her own musical. (The first was the late Micki Grant, making Broadway history in 1972 with Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope.)
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Taub will play Alice Paul, the young suffragist at the forefront in the battle for women’s rights in the early 20th Century. Taub’s previous credits include acclaimed musical adaptations of Twelfth Night and As You Like It at Shakespeare in the Park, and she has released three solo albums.
Joining Taub in the Broadway production – which begins previews at the Music Box Theatre on March 26 ahead of an April 18 opening night – will be Nikki M. James (Tony Award winner for The Book of Mormon) as Ida B. Wells; Jenn Colella (Come From Away) as Carrie Chapman Catt; Grace McLean (Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812) as President Woodrow Wilson; Hannah Cruz (MCC’s The Connector) as Inez Milholland; Kim Blanck (Signature Theatre’s Octet) as Ruza Wenclawska; Anastacia McCleskey (Waitress) as Mary Church Terrell; Ally Bonino (Broadway debut) as Lucy Burns; Tsilala Brock (The Book of Mormon National Tour) as Dudley Malone; Nadia Dandashi (Broadway debut) as Doris Stevens; and Emily Skinner (Side Show) as Alva Belmont/Phoebe Burn.
Most of the Broadway cast is making the move from Off Broadway, though Cruz, who played Ruza Wenclawska at the Public, takes over from Phillipa Soo as Inez Milholland, and Skinner is taking over for Aisha de Haas in the Alva Belmont/Phoebe Burn roles.
Rounding out the company are Hawley Gould (Lincoln Center Theater’s Camelot) as the alternate for Alice Paul, Jaygee Macapugay (Here Lies Love) as Mollie Hay, and Laila Drew making her Broadway debut as Phyllis Terrell/Robin. The cast and ensemble will also include Dana Costello, Jenna Bainbridge, Monica Tulia Ramirez, Ada Westfall, Christine Heesun Hwang, Kirsten Scott, Housso Semon and D’Kaylah Unique Whitley.
Suffs, directed by Leigh Silverman, features choreography by Mayte Natalio, music supervision and music direction by Andrea Grody, scenic design by Riccardo Hernández, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Lap Chi Chu, sound design by Jason Crystal, and orchestrations by Michael Starobin.
As previously announced, Jill Furman and Rachel Sussman will serve as lead producers, with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Malala Yousafzai serving as co-producers.
The official synopsis: It’s 1913 and the women’s movement is heating up in America, anchored by the suffragists — “Suffs,” as they call themselves — and their relentless pursuit of the right to vote. Reaching
across and against generational, racial, and class divides, these brilliant, flawed women entertain and inspire us with the story of their hard-won victory in an ongoing fight. So much has changed since the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment over a century ago, and yet we’re reminded sometimes we need to look back, in order to march fearlessly into the future.
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