Adjunct Assistant Professor and Prince Fellowship alumna Rachel Sussman is a lead producer of the new musical Suffs, which is coming to Broadway’s Music Box Theater in April 2024.
Written by singer-songwriter and Public Theater playwright in residence Shania Taub, with direction by Leigh Silverman, the musical focuses on the United States suffrage movement and the struggle for women’s voting rights in the early 20th Century.
Before teaching in the Theatre Program, Sussman was the 2018-2019 recipient of Columbia University’s Prince Fellowship in Creative Producing. Founded by T. Edward Hambleton in collaboration with Harold Prince and others, the Prince Fellowship is awarded annually to support the development of individuals in creative producing. Recipients are given access to courses in Columbia's MFA Theatre Management & Producing Program, as well as a stipend.
Sussman is a Tony Award-winning producer and the co-founder of The MITTEN Lab. She has worked at Audible Theater, The Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, Second Stage Theatre, and Lincoln Center's American Songbook, amongst many others.
Suffs previously had an off-Broadway run at the Public Theater, and its run on Broadway will also feature Hillary Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Malala Yousafzai on its producing team.
“I’ve been enamored with the American women’s suffrage movement since I first encountered it in middle school,” Sussman told Broadway News earlier this month. “I learned that it took three generations of suffs—as they called themselves—to pass the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.” She emphasized the value of having woman-led projects on Broadway, noting, “Female-centered works are lucrative, essential and not only for women! Women of all ages are seeking community and opportunities for empowerment. I think that women and girls will gravitate toward the show, but it has a universal message for a wider, more diverse audience.”
Suffs opens at the Music Box Theater on April 18, 2024. Tickets will soon be available here.
