), mulls over the logistics of planning the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Procession, the first major activist march on Washington, D.C. “How will we do it when it’s never been done? How will we find a way when there isn’t one?” she muses.
“That’s sort of the thesis of the show,” she says. “We’re not gonna get this capital-F fight done for equality and justice for democracy in America. A lot of the phrases used by activists are ‘never again, ‘not one more,’ ‘this ends today.’ I feel like there’s sort of a tone of finality of like, ‘We’re going to end this and finish this. We have to believe that’s possible, while also accepting that it’s not, and not letting it diminish our desire and motivation to take action anyway.
“A big goal of mine to deepen the relationship between Mary and Ida, because they, to me, represent two different tactical approaches to activism,” she says. “I wanted to do what I can to make the musical a gateway to learn more about these women — sort of like accepting that if I try and cram too much in, it’s not going to do service to any of the characters.
A song called “I Wasn’t There,” about how the suffragists were not actually present in the room when the right to vote was signed into law, was cut. “Another challenge of the show has always been, ‘How do I ride the line dramatically between celebration and failure, victory and defeat,'” she says. “You’re not going to ever have full celebration in your lifetime, it’s always going to be some combo.