Purple, white, and gold.

These were the first colors to catch my eyes as I entered the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center to see Tony Award-wining musical “SUFFS.”

The colors that decorated the merch booth and promotional banners were the same shades that painted the women’s suffrage movement from 1913 to 1920.

According to the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation, purple signifies a steadfastness to the cause, white portrays purity, and gold garners a great glimmer of hope.

“SUFFS” mixes all those colors to create an inspiring historical retelling of the women suffrage movement lead by an extraordinary cast made up of only women and non-binary actors.

Alice Paul, the main character in “SUFFS,” is played by critically acclaimed actor Maya Keleher. She said that the show is a shining shout of courage.

“It’s relentless, hopeful, multidimensional and also, funny,” Keleher said.

The sound of “SUFFS”

A spectacular song can bring goose bumps to the back of one’s neck. The soundtrack in “SUFFS,” written by Shaina Taub, had musical chills running up and down my whole body. It goes without saying, the songs in “SUFFS” were much more than spectacular.

By far the most impressive aspect of the music was the vocal range of each cast member. One song could have a soaring sound sung by a soprano while others could have a marching melody musically manifested by a mezzo-soprano.

Attendee Mary Landry said that the music in the show was empowering. Her favorite song is the closing number, “Keep Marching.”

“I love that song,” Landry said. “Every time I hear it just speaks to me and stirs my soul.”

Secretary for the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, Amy Rosenkranshas, has seen the show before. Her favorite song, performed in act I, is “Great American B—h.” Keleher echoed Rosenkranshas sentiment.

“I will say every night I love performing Great American B—h with a group of other cast mates,” Keleher said. “It’s just like a really fun song; it’s a moment for the audience to have some fun with us too and take a deep breath and you can kinda feel the energy in the song.”

The witty songs and catchy hooks made a few attendees compare “SUFFS” to another award-winning musical.

“It’s right up there with Hamilton,” Rosenkranshas said.

Stevenson business communication alum and podcast host for the Baltimore Times Zuryna Livermore said that the vocals were one of the reasons she liked the show.

“I thought it was amazing; the vocals are vocaling and the message is great,” Livermore said. “I love the added comedy aspect of it so overall it’s a 10/10.”

The soul of “SUFFS”

The power in the pitch was not the only part of the performance that impacted Livermore. She also explained that as a parent of a four-year-old, “SUFFS” resonated with her in an unexpected way.

An important aspect of the story that history books definitely do not delve deep into, is the fact that the women leading the movement had internal struggles around balancing their protesting and personal life.

For attendees like Livermore, she said that her the show resonated with her experience navigating her work life and being a mother.

“I am always conflicted do I take on this role or do I take on this job because I might lose time with my kid. But at the end of the day, I want her to look at me and be like ‘my mom had same hours of the day that you did, and she did it’ I know she’ll look at me and be proud,” Livermore said. “‘SUFFS’ made me feel ok with doing extra.”

Keleher explained that women of all ages have come to her after the show with tears in their eyes saying how much the performance profoundly impacted their identity.

“And I think a lot of people are finding that community and connection with the show,” Keleher said. “They are coming out of it also seeing a group of people on stage engaging in a community effort and I think that that reflection back is really special.”

That reflection back takes on the form of a motivation to march.

Not just actors, but activists

“I think it [activism] also means to face adversity to face setbacks and to still find the strength to privet and keep going in a different direction,” Keleher said.

Activism is not displayed as a temporary action in the show. Instead, a large emphasis is placed on the infectious power of activism.

“And I love that it really taps into the cyclical aspect of activism,” Keleher said. “That we always see new actives showing up to fight for the next thing to fight for the next better version of the world and we tap into that in this show.”

From the beginning of the performance, the group of main suffragists are built fairly quickly in just one scene. Alice Pual, played by Maya Keleher, acts as a musical magnet to the cast as they join her in the fight for women’s rights.

The audience must have been made of magnetic metal as well. By the end of the show many audience members were mentally geared up to go to another women’s march.

Mary Landry a Baltimore resident has been to as many women’s marches as she could go to from 2017 onward. The show reminded her of what she referred as her purpose.

“Oh my gosh, I absolutely loved it,” Landry said. “I had tears in my eyes and I want to go right back out to another women’s March.”

She further explained that she did not see herself as an activist, but as a women holding up the generations that came before her and the ones to come after.

“I am not and activist I am a women who believes that everybody should have equal rights and when I get out there and I march and I picket and I do everything else that I do I am upholding my daughter and my nieces and the women to come after,” Landry said. “So, if that makes me an activists you can call it an activists but I call it being a woman I feel like it’s my job.”

Closing thoughts

“I hope they leave feeling hopeful in some way and I also hope they leave feeling curious,” Keleher said. “I hope this is like a portal for this history to be a little bit more well known for people.”

Before seeing the show, I could help but wonder how seven years of activism would be organized cohesively in a two-and-a-half-hour show. But this concern immediately left my mind as soon as the first scene transition was witnessed.

The story did not overwhelm the audience with historical information, but at the same time none of the information seemed to be watered down.

Keleher explained that when people watch a piece of media, they can end up seeing the character as just that – a character. She continued saying that the depth of historical figures can sometimes be lost on the stage in the eyes of the audience if a performance is not executed correctly.

“Alcie Paul was this unstoppable force,” Keleher said. “But she was also a human being in all of this, undergoing some really intense things and probably grappling with her own questions about how far she would she was gonna.”

Through Keleher brilliant performance, Alice Paul was not just a character in a show. She was a real person. A persona that not only inspired the other actors on stage, but also the audiences in seats.

“We get to stand together collectively and say some really empowering words on stage like we demand to be heard we demand to be seen,” Keleher said. “So I think in a lot of ways while it is daunting and there are weeks that it is really hard, at the end of the day to be doing that together in this group to be singing these beautiful lush harmonies that Shaina Taub wrote and to be telling the story that she wrote outweighs all the tough stuff. It’s really special. Yeah, special is the word that comes to mind the most.”