Suffs! on Broadway

What wild ride American politics has been on the past month. First there was President Biden's disastrous debate against former President Trump, and the subsequent calls for him to drop out of the presidential race. Then the former president was the victim of a failed assassination attempt. Followed by the Republican National Committee's quadrennial convention to declare a contestant, and announce the VP. Followed by President Biden announcing he would step down as the presumptive nominee, and an hour later handing the baton to VP Kamala Harris. Harris ran with it and raised over $80 million in the first 24 hours of her campaign and brought life to the contest most Americans (and most people around the globe) were dreading.

Whew! 

When faced with a chance to go into New York with Don and Ashley while they saw AJR in concert, I bought a ticket to Suffs! to celebrate.

Suffs! is the story of the fight for American women to get the right to vote, told by an all-female cast that includes a member of the cast in a wheelchair. The story pits the seasoned Carrie Chapman Catt (played by Jenn Colella) against the young upstart, Alice Paul (played by writer Shaina Taub) in the fight for suffrage. While I didn't learn anything new about the fight, I realize I am in the minority in that I have been to Paulsdale, Alice Paul's home in New Jersey. I clapped my hands raw with each song, and each jab. Once again I mourned that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA for short) was not passed before the opportunity expired in 1982. I heard from a man in the audience that it is back on the ballot this year -- alas, it is in New York, but not in New Jersey.

While I did not leave humming any of the songs (another listening would solve that), I did live with renewed hope that this election will work out and that democracy will prevail.

A few notes. Before the show I chatted with the two women on my left wearing matching Target dresses. Turns out they are sisters and they traveled from Illinois and Wisconsin to celebrate the one's 65th birthday. I thought we were aligned politically, after all the Wisconsin sis was wearing a Black Lives Matter plastic bracelet. I had my doubts when I noticed they were not clapping after each song, nor after the jabs. My feelings were confirmed when they buried their noses in their Playbills and didn't say a word to me at intermission or after the show. The guy in front of me was super enthusiastic for women's rights -- this was his third time seeing the show, he, too, bought his ticket to celebrate the political turn.

I later learned Louise Penney, one of my favorite authors, was in the audience. *Sigh* She and her contingency got a backstage tour.

After the show I collected autographs at the stage door. While we used to do this after just about every show before the pandemic, we have shied away from the crowds. I realized this was something Ashley enjoyed doing and I always stood back to take pictures of her with the cast. This time it was me snapping pictures, collecting autographs, and telling the women how much I enjoyed the show.

The energy reminded me of the feels when running in an all-female race -- everyone is respectful and kind. I talked to Robyn, a woman from San Francisco, who comes to NYC twice a year to see shows. Her personal best was seeing four shows in ONE DAY! Sure the last one was a late night show at a bar/comedy club, but still! She taught James Monroe Inglehart how to tap dance before he became the Genie in Aladdin.

As I was still waiting for Don and Ashley's show to finish, I capped off my evening with gelato from Anita's, a new gelato place on 45th. I see more trips there in our future.