Posted: 12/4/23 at 11:02am
Oh wow that's a truly fantastic new Act Two Finale song.
That's how you grow a show from off broadway to Broadway.
You unlock something you always needed.
Posted: 12/4/23 at 12:51pm
I’m disappointed to see this. The finale at the Public (“The Young are at the Gates (Reprise)” I think?) was bar none my favorite part of the show. This song is pretty, but on first listen it lacks the joy, power, and upbeat energy that pushed the show’s central message forward into the future. I think this rewrite was a mistake.
Posted: 12/4/23 at 1:15pm
Blechhh. I hate to say it, but that song doubles down on the elements of the show that I loathed at the Public. When you have to step outside of your show's narrative to preach to your audience and explicitly tell everybody what the message of your show is ("Keep marching on," "We did not end injustice and neither will you," "Yes, the world can be changed, cuz we’ve done it before")... then you're not doing the work. Focus on the characters and their journeys. Let them tell their stories and trust the audience to take away your message.
Part of what makes Hamilton such a powerful piece of historical theatre is that it does just that: it focuses on telling the story and allows the audience to digest, process, and then take away the themes and messages from the work. You're never preached at.
Suffs is a fantastic story. Suffs has compelling, interesting characters. It is aggressively obvious without needing to shove it down your audience's throat that a century later, the fight for women's rights continues to be at the forefront of this country. I wish Shaina would trust her own work and her audience.
Posted: 12/4/23 at 2:21pm
I like it and happy to see they are continuing to work on the show.
Wishing them the best of luck.....
Posted: 12/4/23 at 2:54pm
Look at our world.
That song is going to hit with people very hard.
I really am rooting for them to have it all work as a whole.
Posted: 12/4/23 at 2:56pm
I don't know what their plans are for rewriting, but just thinking about this song, I wonder if framing the show as either a memory piece, or female activists today juxtaposed with ones from the past would have been more successful than what we saw at the Public.
I hope Grace McLean returns!
Posted: 12/4/23 at 7:22pm
TheSecretArden said: "I’m disappointed to see this. The finale at the Public (“The Young are at the Gates (Reprise)” I think?) was bar none my favorite part of the show. This song is pretty, but on first listen it lacks the joy, power, and upbeat energy that pushed the show’s central message forward into the future. I think this rewrite was a mistake."
Is it possible you're thinking of the act 1 closer? That was the Young Are at the Gates Reprise and was excellent.
My understanding is the new number is the act 2 closer and it's far better in my opinion. I journal after each show I see and one of my notes (besides a list of cuts lol) was that it needs a new final number. At the Public it was The Work Is Never Over which I didn't enjoy. I'm excited to see how this new version goes with a full cast.
Posted: 12/4/23 at 9:14pm
I rather liked it. I'm going to suggest this may not be the way we hear the song in the show. How might it be affected by the voices of the full cast?
Also: announce the cast already!
Posted: 12/4/23 at 10:58pm
I’m confused…why is she singing in a “baby voice”? Is that the sound of the entire show?
Posted: 12/4/23 at 11:22pm
Bill Snibson said: "I’m confused…why is she singing in a “baby voice”? Is that the sound of the entire show?"
I've noticed that as well. Shaina doesn't sound like herself in this video.
Posted: 12/4/23 at 11:32pm
Gotcha. Maybe its more affected for this video to make a show about suffragettes feel a bit more contemporary. I like the song but her vocals were throwing me.
Posted: 1/11/24 at 10:35pm
Just booked tickets for the third preview. Looking forward to this one, but has anyone heard anything about casting? I would think we should be expecting an announcement soon as rehearsals should be around the corner.
Posted: 1/11/24 at 10:44pm
Dylan Smith4 said: "Just booked tickets for the third preview. Looking forward to this one, but has anyone heard anything about casting? I would think we should be expecting an announcement soon as rehearsals should be around the corner."
I’d just gladly assume the entire Public cast transfers with the production until an official announcement.
Posted: 1/11/24 at 11:10pm
Per this November casting notice, rehearsals begin 2/12 (one month from tomorrow) and offers were already out to the 11 principal actors. So it could be that they aimed to reassemble people previously involved with the show (at the Public or in last December's workshop) or had offered to higher-profile musical theatre ladies who they didn't need to audition. (Caveat that just because they were offered doesn't mean they accepted.)
Considering the design team, choreographer, and orchestrator are new for Broadway, I wouldn't be shocked if some of the cast is different too.
Updated On: 1/11/24 at 11:10 PM
Posted: 1/12/24 at 10:56am
Can confirm that Soo and Colella are coming to Broadway in this.
The intention was to reunite the whole cast, but those were the only names I had confirmed to me via a show contact (likely because they are the big stars he was discussing, its possible a few lesser known actors couldnt join due to scheduling conflicts etc).
Posted: 1/12/24 at 11:48am
MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "Can confirm that Soo and Colella are coming to Broadway in this.
The intention was to reunite the whole cast, but those were the only names I had confirmed to me via a show contact (likely because they are the big stars he was discussing, its possible a few lesser known actors couldnt join due to scheduling conflicts etc)."
Wrong. Only 1 of those 2 people are coming.
Posted: 1/12/24 at 12:51pm
Yeah, I heard the only one of those two were in it for the long haul, but that was a year or so ago, so maybe things changed.
Posted: 1/12/24 at 1:22pm
Am I correct in remembering that for the December 2022 workshop, Soo was out and Colella was in? Though obviously a workshop cast can just be based on scheduling.
Posted: 1/12/24 at 2:10pm
Soo is not doing the show on Broadway. Colella is.
There has been role shifting among some of the supporting roles.
Posted: 1/12/24 at 2:13pm
Soo not coming to Broadway with this would be a massive loss for the show.
Posted: 1/12/24 at 2:35pm
And possibly Soo too. It's precisely the kind of role that wins Featured Actor Tonys.
Posted: 1/12/24 at 2:44pm
Any word on who is playing Alice Paul? Or is Shaina Taub doing it?
Posted: 1/12/24 at 3:03pm
Fingers crossed that Nikki M. James makes the move to Broadway. She's got the best song with Wait My Turn in my opinion.
Posted: 1/12/24 at 3:27pm
I almost always buy tickets MONTHS in advance when visiting NY from Chicago. I have no interest in SUFFS. It did not make it into my final 7 show purchases for an April visit, but I wish it a successful run.
Posted: 1/12/24 at 3:28pm
The issue with the roles Soo has taken since Hamilton (Amelie, Guinevere) is that they've all been in mediocre (at best) productions, so she hasn't really had a shining track record in that regard. I personally don't find her to be that interesting of a performer (she was far and away the weakest link of the principal cast in Hamilton too). So I don't find it a loss that she's not with this show any more. She wasn't going to move any more tickets than whoever is replacing her will.
