Crusading woman take reins of 'Suffs,' 'Robin Hood' on Playhouse Square

Women take center stage on two fascinating shows running this month on Playhouse Square. 'Suffs' Women's rights and musicals have come a long way since Glynis Johns, playing Mrs. Banks, a rather clueless mother of two rambunctious children, rang out with the comical anthem "Sister Suffragette" in "Mary Poppins." Today, there's an entire musical that takes a far more sober and historical but equally joyous glance into the woman's suffragette movement. Based on the the autobiography "Jailed for Freedom," written by suffragist Doris Stevens (also a featured character in the show), the new musical "Suffs" tells the riveting story about the trials and tribulations of the American suffragette movement, how women at the early part of the last century struggled for the vote and equal rights. This wasn't about facing mere male chauvinism and duplicity, particularly reflected by President Woodrow Wilson, but triumphing over arrests, hunger strikes and even torture to land the 1920 ratification of the 19th Constitutional Amendment, extending the right to vote for women (athough African American woman had to wait until more than four decades later). Triple-threat Shaina Taub took this premise and spun it into a full Broadway musical drama -- highly engaging music, lyrics and book (script) -- expanding the historical scope to encompass a bigger historical dimension. All the historical figures are here -- Mollie Hay (Tami Dahbura), Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton), Carrie Chapman Catt (Marya Grandy), Mary Church Terrell (Trisha Jeffrey), Alice Paul (Maya Keleher), Doris Stevens (Livvy Marcus), Lucy Burns (Gwynne Wood) and Ruza Wenclawska (Joyce Meimei Zheng), to name only some -- but they are brilliantly brought to life in singing/acting/dancing splendor by a stellar cast who could likely match the stars of the original 2024 Broadway production, which closed a little more than a year ago. Kudos for the members of the all-female cast taking on key male roles -- Jenny Ashman as President Wilson and Brandi Porter as Dudley Malone, Wilson's Third Assistant Secretary of State and Doris Stevens' eventural fiance. Taub, who actually starred in the original Broadway production (a quadruple threat), manages the most difficult task of sculpting a solid dramatic arch to a work that still must not betray historical integrity. Likewise, she creates a score that lends itself to mainstream contemporary tastes while not betraying the musical spirit of a century ago. Christine Peters scenic design focuses on simple but often iconic silhouettes and detailed movable set pieces to cover a variety of interior and exterior locations. Paul Tazewell's costumes attractively but unassumingly portray the period while helping to physically hone the characters, from upper class to working class. Like most great works of Broadway, "Suffs" packs a punch not with extravagant production numbers, but lump-in-the-throat emotional power. Mrs. Banks from "Mary Poppins" would no doubt have shed a tear of pride. 'The Heart of Robin Hood' Forget the dewy, delicate Maid Marions of previous renditions of the 14th century folk hero Robin Hood; the heroine of Great Lakes Theater's production of the relatively new theatrical evocation of the allegedly philanthropic thief butts heads with her dubious lover-in-tights and actually proves just as macho and even more the true alternate soul of the original folktale. Leaving Olivia de Havilland (1938), Audrey Hepburn (1976) and Cate Blanchette (2010) lost in the woods, Great Lakes Theater's Angela Utrera handily takes the reins as a Marion who pines for more than embroidering while sitting on a throne. In this adaptation by David Farr -- former artistic director of London's Gate Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company -- she sets out into the woods only to clash with a version of Robin Hood who blithely takes from the rich but sort of forgot about that small detail of giving it to the poor. That is, until Marion wanders into the scene. In classic Shakespearean crossdressing tradition of "Twelfth Night" and "As You Like It," Marion eventually finds herself disguised as a young man who befriends Robin Hood (solidly played here by Evan Stevens), and together they swashbuckle their way through the dramatic trappings of battling a throne-stealing nemesis (Nick Steen) of Marion's father, who's leading an important battle from afar. Farr's script is solidly and expertly framed as a lost Shakespere classic, where a royal maiden could very well find herself sporting a male persona while dealing with confusing romantic urges that seem to be emanating equally from her "pal" Robin. But despite the framing -- including an emblematically Shakespearean multi-level, multipurpose set design by Courtney O'Neill, perfect for the company's following production of "The Winter's Tale" -- the soul of this Robin Hood seems rooted in a classic Hollywood technicolor. Characters are still a bit broad and demand nuance that occasionally eludes the limits of Great Lakes otherwise top-notch cast. But director Jaclyn Miller clearly knows her way around staging Shakespeare as well as newer theater classics such as "Cabaret." She carries playwright Farr's unique Shakespearean vision to fruition, and it's perfect for Great Lakes' fans who seek both the Bard and Broadway. Contact Howard Gollop at howieeg@gmail.com.