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S53E18: Suffs | Clip

Meet the Real Suffragists Who Inspired Suffs

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Learn about the real women behind the suffragist movement who helped pass the 19th amendment and inspired the musical “Suffs.”

TRANSCRIPT

-♪ We demand equality and nothing in between ♪ -"Suffs" is about a group of amazing, fierce women who won the right to vote.

-"Suffs" is about how intergenerational change can happen and how entertaining that can be.

-The show is really fun!

At its heart, this story is also about friendship and chosen family and what happens when a group of people move the tides.

-Join us in a march on March 3rd.

-Give some money.

-Spread the word.

-Give more money.

-♪ Make your voice heard -♪ How will we do it when it's never been done?

♪ ♪ How will we find a way where there isn't one?

♪ -So, I became obsessed with suffrage when I was a pre-teen in metro Detroit.

I read a paragraph on suffrage, which is all the textbook would cover in my U.S.

history class, and I felt like there had to be more to it than just Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

And I did all this research, and I learned about all these other women, how it took three generations of women to actually get the amendment passed, this fight for progress and how it was about women and girls like me.

And I questioned, like, why has this been kept from me?

Why don't I know this story?

And I started to think, "Oh, that idea of suffrage -- Why isn't this a piece of theater?"

-It is about women digging deep through the centuries to find their voice.

What better medium than the musical for women to finally find their voice and the power of women voices coming together?

There's nothing more exciting than that.

-This movement used a lot of pageantry and performance to get its message across -- the message of let women vote.

These women had a lot to say, and saying it through song, it's anthemic, and it's emotional, and we get to really capture their passion, and the music gets to go straight to your heart.

-I play Carrie Chapman Catt.

She was Susan B. Anthony's protégé.

She traveled the world on this quest to make suffrage a reality for women.

She is a force, and within the show, she represents the more moderate, kind of conservative efforts that took place so that the 19th Amendment could get passed.

The modern counterpart to Carrie Chapman Catt is probably Hillary Clinton.

-♪ Not this girl who flouted all feminine custom ♪ ♪ By joining the fight for the vote ♪ ♪ Not this girl who followed the lead of the movement ♪ ♪ Hiding her anger beneath her petticoat ♪ ♪ Who rose through the ranks by paying her dues ♪ ♪ And earned her place at the top ♪ ♪ Who transformed and expanded the organization ♪ ♪ And she's yet to stop!

-Alice Paul was a born leader and was just driven to sort of be a part of this movement.

She sort of, like, found her joy in finding all of these contexts to make her friends shine.

She was impossible to say no to.

You spend a couple minutes with Alice, and you're gonna join the fight.

So she was just one of those people who could, like, lift you up, and that was a strength.

♪ Show them who you are ♪ Show them our brazen, unwavering dynamo ♪ ♪ Show them who you are ♪ Show them you'll rip 'em to shreds ♪ ♪ If they tell you no ♪ You think your nerve is about to give out ♪ ♪ But the girl I see glows brighter than any star ♪ ♪ So go show them who you are Alice Paul is the 1913 Leslie Knope.

-Ida fought against the Ku Klux Klan and horrific, violent racism in the South.

She escaped to a Northern city, and she just continued to fight and to write.

And because she did that, we have a chronicle, a real history of our own struggle as a nation to find ways to include everybody when we say "We, the people."

I am drawn to the idea of Ida being like Nina Simone.

♪ You want me to wait my turn ♪ To simply put my sex before my race ♪ ♪ Oh, why don't I leave my skin at home and powder up my face?

♪ ♪ Guess who always waits her turn ♪ ♪ Who always ends up in the back ♪ ♪ Us lucky ones born both female and Black ♪ -"Suffs" is a show that feels so resonant no matter what time we're in.

But in this particular moment, it feels so urgent given the state of our country and that, you know, the promise of democracy could be at stake and given that women's rights are under attack.

And so I feel like telling the story, reminding ourselves what we've done before and how far we can go is more important than ever.

-♪ Yes, the world can be changed ♪ ♪ We've done it before ♪ So keep marching -♪ Keep marching -♪ Keep marching ♪ We're always behind you ♪ So bang down the door and keep marching ♪ -♪ Keep marching -♪ Keep marching ♪ And let history sound... -I care about the future generations of kids who are gonna march up the aisles of the theater singing "Keep Marching."

-And then also I think people will leave feeling hopeful and inspired to make the world a better place.

Keep marching.

-♪ Come on, keep marching ♪ Marching, marching ♪ Come on, keep marching, marching, marching ♪ ♪ Come on, keep marching, marching, marching ♪ ♪ Keep marching on ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] [ Feet marching ]