Tony-winning musical "Suffs" in Boston tells story of women who fought for the right to vote

What did it take to convince lawmakers that American women deserved the right to vote? The Tony-winning musical "Suffs" tells the story of women critical to the movement.

It's been more than 100 years since the states ratified the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote.

"We have an image of the women's suffrage movement as being a very kind of polite situation. And obviously it was not," actor Livvy Marcus said.

The Easton native portrays Doris Stevens, one of the activists who fought for the right to cast a ballot.

"We do permitted protesting, we do picketed civil disobedience, we do time in prison," said Marcus. 

"Suffs" in Boston

The revelations on stage often surprise audiences, but Fredie Kay, the president and founder of the Massachusetts Women's History Center, said the stories are far from fiction.

"I think there's shock. 'We didn't know women were force fed and in jail for the vote, are you kidding me?' I think that's news to a lot of people," Kay said.

Kay was moved to tears the first time she heard the songs from "Suffs" saying, "It was so spectacular and it just captured the feeling, all of the, you know, so many of the issues and the emotions of what this took. "

While the musical takes on serious issues, there are a lot of laughs thanks to Tony-winning creator Shaina Taub.

She starred as Alice Paul in the original Broadway production.

"As women I think we know how to find levity in the darkest moments. That's like one of our superpowers, especially when we're together," Marcus said.

Women's suffrage movement

At first, the suffrage movement focused on getting individual states to pass the women's vote.

"In 1915, they had 500,000 people on the streets of Boston," Kay said. "One month later, it was defeated at the ballot box."

The effort then transformed into a push for a federal constitutional amendment.

In 1920, Tennessee became the 36th and final state to ratify that amendment.

"We have this wonderful line in the show where we say progress is possible, not guaranteed," Marcus said. "It is so possible. It is within our reach, but we're the people who have to fight for it. And everybody has their place in the movement."

"We didn't just get here. It came from really, really hard work, and we need to continue to work, and people need to know from whence they came," Kay added.

Despite the 19th Amendment, Jim Crow laws in the South prevented most Black women and men from casting ballots. It took 45 more years before the Voting Rights Act became law, giving all Americans the right to vote.

You can see the Broadway in Boston production of Suffs at the Emerson Colonial Theater through March 29.