JULY 18 • 2024 | 37
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email and said, ‘I have an idea for
a project and I think you might be
the right person to write it.’”
Over dinner in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, in 2014, Sussman
asked Taub if she had ever heard of
Alice Paul, the National Woman’s
Party Founder who authored the
Equal Rights Amendment in 1923.
She had not.
Sussman gave Taub a copy
of Doris Stevens’ book, Jailed
for Freedom: American Women Win
the Vote, which was a firsthand
account of the suffragists’ fight for
passage of the 19th Amendment.
“I woke up the next morning
to an email from Shaina at 5 a.m.
And the subject line just said
‘YES,’ Sussman recalled. “
And
Shaina said, ‘We have to do this.’
And that sort of was the beginning
of it all.”
Taub, who also stars as suffragist
Alice Paul in Suffs, took home two
Tonys last month for Best Book of
a Musical and Best Original Score
(Music and Lyrics).
“There’s a quote from the
Talmud that I put at the top of my
script that says, ‘You are not obli-
gated to complete the work, but
neither are you free to abandon
it,’” said Taub, who is only the sec-
ond woman in Broadway history
to write, compose and star in a
Broadway musical.
“That’s such a North Star for my
life and this idea of we’re never
going to finish these fights for
equality and justice in our life-
times, but that doesn’t let us off
the hook.”
In her acceptance speech, Taub
credited Rachel Sussman “for
knowing that this story needed to
be told and changing my life by
choosing me to tell it.” She also
thanked co-producer Jill Furman
“for never giving up.”
Four of the lead female creatives
behind Suffs are all Jewish: Jill
Furman, Rachel Sussman, Shaina
Taub and Director Leigh Silverman.
“I said right before the Tonys
began that as Jews we say ‘Dayenu’
— that would have been enough,”
Taub explained. “Just to be in the
room and be a part of this commu-
nity — Dayenu. But to get to win
on top of that is just more than I
could have ever imagined. It’s a life-
time’s honor.
“I am so passionate about
sharing the story, specifically the
process as a writer,” Taub added.
“
A lot of people counted us out. A
lot of people underestimated us.
Sometimes, there’s nothing quite
like being underestimated to make
you rise to the occasion.”
And rise they have. Following
the Tonys, Sussman announced
that the next block of Suffs tickets is
now on sale through Jan. 5, 2025.
“I think we’ve all been in Suffs
together for so long, in the trench-
es, trying to get it to Broadway and
it not being a home run right away.
And to be recognized for it now, 10
years later, it just feels so gratifying
and validating,” Sussman said.
“It’s also the most beautiful
closing of that chapter right now,
because Suffs is no longer in devel-
opment. It’s open now. Suffs is alive.
And so my job changes. My job
now is, how do I share Suffs with
as many people as possible from
Broadway to beyond?”
Sussman currently has more
than 10 projects in the works. Her
mentor Hal Prince always told her,
“The day after you open a show,
you should be having meetings for
your next project. You’ve always
got to be moving forward. You’ve
always got to be brainstorming
about what’s next.”
Sussman concluded, “I feel like
I’ve really taken that to heart and
I’m excited about a lot of the things
I have coming down the pike —
plays and musicals — but all of
them speak to my ethos and my
desire to tell stories either about the
world around us or women.
“I’m really interested in work
that asks that question without
easy answers. And I think when
people leave the theater they feel,
perhaps, galvanized or moved to
do something with what they’ve
just come away with.”
For tickets, visit https://suffsmusical.com.
Mazel Tov
On April 18, 2024, producer Rachel Sussman and
Emma Galvin, a psychotherapist and actor, attend-
ed the Broadway opening night of Suffs at the
Music Box Theatre. Six days later, the two were
married at New York City Hall.
“We plan to have a Jewish ceremony at a later
date,” says Sussman after their whirlwind two
months of milestones.
Next came a family baby shower hosted by
Emma’s brother, actor Noah Galvin, and his fiancé,
Tony Award-winner Ben Platt. The company of Suffs
also threw Rachel and Emma a surprise baby show-
er.
On June 3, just 13 days before the Tony Awards,
Emma’s and Rachel’s son, Shiloh Ziggy Galvin-
Sussman was born.
“Shiloh is a name we both love. It’s derived from
the Hebrew verb shalah, which means ‘to send’
or ‘to appoint,’” Sussman says. “It also has been
attributed to mean “the peaceful one,” which feels
apropos given that we hope he will be an antidote
to so much pain in the world.”
Shiloh’s middle name “Ziggy” is for Sussman’s
paternal grandma, Zelma Sussman.
Emma Galvin
and Rachel
Sussman
on their
wedding day
TREVOR BAUM PHOTOGRAPHY
Rachel Sussman
and her wife,
Emma Galvin, on
Suffs Broadway
Opening night.
JENNY ANDERSON