Video: Shaina Taub Talks SUFFS and Shares Why RAGTIME is Her Favorite Musical

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Tony-winner Shaina Taub had been honored by Time Magazine as part of the 2024 TIME100 Next list. The list honors "emerging leaders who are shaping the future" and this year, Taub is in such company as Cole Escola, Reneé Rapp, and Ashley Park.

The Suffs writer and performer recently visited CBS mornings to talk about what led to the honor and her contributions to musical theater. On writing the acclaimed musical Suffs, Taub says she felt it was important to highlight a story that "systems in power in this country would rather us forget" and hopes that it might inspire young people to bring about positive change.

Starting this week, Taub will temporarily leave her role in Suffs on Broadway to play the revolutionary Emma Goldman in New York City Center’s Encores! production of Ragtime, a show that she names as her favorite. "I got the cast album for Hanukkah in 1998. I was a young Jewish girl but I didn't yet understand how activism was baked into the Jewish philosophy...It was my biggest inspiration for Suffs."

Created by Shaina Taub, who is now the first woman to ever independently win Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score in the same season, Suffs has also been named Best Musical (Outer Critics Circle Award) and received two Drama Desk Awards.

It’s a given that the women of the suffragist movement—who called themselves “Suffs” for short—were brilliant, but as they fought tirelessly for the right to vote, they were also flawed, stubborn, passionate and funny. Suffs tells their story: the remarkable friendships, the heartbreak, and how this movement brought them together—or, in some cases, tore them apart. Produced by Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, Jill Furman, and Rachel Sussman, Suffs is a “theatrical masterpiece that demands to be seen” (Forbes) and a reminder that progress is always possible but never guaranteed.

Suffs stars Tony Award-winning book writer, composer, and lyricist Shaina Taub in the role of Alice Paul, making her only the second woman in history to write the book, music, lyrics and star in her own Broadway musical. Suffs also stars Tony Award-winner Nikki M. James (The Book of Mormon) as Ida B. Wells, Tony Award-nominee Jenn Colella (Come From Away) as Carrie Chapman Catt, Grace McLean (Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812) as President Woodrow Wilson, Hannah Cruz (MCC’s The Connector) as Inez Milholland, Kim Blanck (Signature Theatre’s Octet) as Ruza Wenclawska, Anastacia McCleskey (Waitress) as Mary Church Terrell, Ally Bonino (Broadway debut) as Lucy Burns, Tsilala Brock (The Book of Mormon National Tour) as Dudley Malone, Nadia Dandashi (Broadway debut) as Doris Stevens, and Tony Award-nominee Emily Skinner (Side Show) as Alva Belmont/Phoebe Burn.

Rounding out the company are Hawley Gould (Lincoln Center Theater’s Camelot) as the Alternate for Alice Paul, Jaygee Macapugay (Here Lies Love) as Mollie Hay, and Laila Drew (Broadway debut) as Phyllis Terrell/Robin. The ensemble will feature Dana Costello (Pretty Woman) as well as Jenna Bainbridge, Monica Tulia Ramirez, and Ada Westfall making their Broadway debuts. The cast also includes Christine Heesun Hwang (Les Misérables National Tour), Chessa Metz (Broadway debut), Kirsten Scott (Jersey Boys), Housso Semon (Girl From The North Country), and D’Kaylah Unique Whitley (Dear Evan Hansen).

Suffs features book, music and lyrics by Tony Award-winner Shaina Taub, direction by Tony Award-nominee Leigh Silverman (Violet), choreography by Mayte Natalio (How to Dance in Ohio), scenic design by Tony Award-nominee Riccardo Hernández (Jagged Little Pill), costume design by Tony Award-winner Paul Tazewell (Hamilton), lighting design by Tony Award-nominee Lap Chi Chu (Camelot), sound design by Jason Crystal (Sweeney Todd) with associate Sun Hee Kil (Choir Boy), orchestrations by Tony Award-winner Michael Starobin (Next to Normal), music supervision and music direction by Andrea Grody (The Band’s Visit), and casting by Heidi Griffiths and Kate Murray (Soft Power). 101 Productions, Ltd. serves as General Manager.