(Production photo)

It’s hard to believe, but women didn’t have the right to vote in American elections until 1920. And it took a movement of determined women to win that right. 

That’s the focus for “Suffs,” now on stage at the Providence Performing Arts Center. Suffs is short for suffragists, the women leading the movement to win the right to vote. At the center is Alice Paul (Maya Keleher), an inspired young woman who wants to organize a march on Washington, DC the day before the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson (Jenny Ashman). 

This puts her at odds with Carrie Chapman Catt (Marya Grandy), head of the  National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), who prefers a slow and steady pace to securing women’s suffrage. In Paul’s eyes, slow and steady is not the way to go.

With the help of a few friends, Paul organizes the march, earning front-page coverage. A picture of socialite Inez Milholland (Monica Tulia Ramirez) riding a white steed while clad in Amazon-like armor becomes the emblem of the movement. 

The fight is on. Starting in 1913, it carries through to the ultimate passage of the 19th Amendment – Women’s Right to Vote.

“Suffs” won Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score in the 2024 Tony Awards.

The show chronicles the struggles these women faced – including imprisonment and attempted commitment – fighting for their rights. 

It also presents an almost contemporary take on Woodrow Wilson, who tells lies to the press about the treatment of these women, and answers many claims with, “This is the first I’m hearing of this.” Wilson is not the good guy here.

There are amazing performances in this show, starting with Ashman’s smarmy portrayal of Wilson. Glad-handing at one moment, backstabbing the next.

Grandy plays the uptight Catt perfectly, and showcases her excellent voice in several songs, including “Let Mother Vote” and “This Girl.” 

Danyel Fulton plays Ida B. Wells, a prominent African American journalist and activist who joins the movement, realizing that women of color will have to fight beyond passage of the 19th amendment to earn their right to vote. Her song, “Wait My Turn,” is powerful and poignant.

Brandi Porter and Livvy Marcus provide comic relief as Wilson’s Chief of Staff, Dudley Malone, and Doris Stevens, secretary of Paul’s faction of NAWSA which later becomes the National Woman’s Party. Their song, “If We Were Married,” while funny, points up the inequities between men and women at that point in American history.

One song, “Great American Bitch,” was a definite crowd pleaser. 

Keleher is the glue that holds this show together. Her Alice Paul is on stage for the majority of the show, but her energy never fades. And her voice is spectacular.

“Suffs” is a truly amazing show, and it will have you on your feet before the curtain call. 

“Suffs” runs through this Sunday at the Providence Performing Arts Center. For tickets and information, call 401.421.ARTS or visit the box office at www.ppacri.org.

Frank O’Donnell has worn many different hats. As an actor, he’s performed in three professional theatrical productions and countless community theater productions. He’s written, produced and directed four holiday-themed shows and once helmed the Notfanuttin’ Players, specializing in audience-participation dinner shows. He’s been performing as a stand-up comedian since 1982 and has been inducted into the RI Comedy Hall of Fame. He’s written comedy for other performers, like Bob Hope, Jay Leno and Joe Piscopo. He’s opened for performers as diverse as the Judds, Michael Bolton, Chicago, David Brenner, Gilbert Gottfried and more. He’s been writing reviews and features about theater in Rhode Island for better than two decades. His work to help save the monarch butterfly has been chronicled on NBC Nightly News and he is president of the Keri Anne O’Donnell Memorial Fund. A native of Providence and long-time resident of North Providence, Frank now calls Jamestown home. He and his wife Karen – who he met when both were students at Classical High School – have four children, and recently became grandparents.