The all-female and non-binary Broadway cast of Suffs has marched into the recording studio for their Original Broadway Cast Album, and Atlantic Records is raising the curtain.
Suffs (Original Broadway Cast Recording), the official musical companion to the Tony Award-nominated musical from singer-songwriter Shaina Taub, is out now. The recording experience turned out to be a "profound" experience for cast members Tsilala Brock and Kim Blanck.
"We as a cast have taken a lot of ownership over the storytelling in this music," Brock, who is making her Broadway debut as Dudley Malone, told Music Times. "I've never recorded an OBC album before and having the entire company together performing these songs we love so much was a dynamic experience. Shaina's genius really comes from her ability to write songs that inspire. They inspire us as much as the audiences who bear witness to it."
The cast is currently stunning sold-out audiences eight times a week at the Music Box Theatre. However, getting to hear themselves on the new album has proven to be an emotional experience for the cast.
"We have the best in the business, Jason Crystal, mixing our voices for the audience at The Music Box, but getting to hear ourselves in such close proximity made the music seem even more powerful. It was really a full-bodied experience," Brock continued.
Blanck was also excited to return to the creation stage for the piece. After a 10-year developmental period, the musical is being displayed in its final form on Broadway right now. Recording the album allowed the cast to revisit the material in a new way.
"It was exciting getting the opportunity to return to the page, in a way, as well as to fuse the notes and lyrics we learned in the first week of rehearsal with the ideas, tensions, and stories developed over months of performing in front of an audience," Blanck shares.
For the two actresses, translating the performances that usually are played to over a thousand people each night into the intimate recording booth came with the help of director Leigh Silverman.
"An unexpected delight was working with Leigh during the recording process in order to ensure that the visual storytelling was being translated through our voices as richly as possible," Blanck continued. "For example, for a spoken line that I typically shout in earnest, she had me try it more conspiratorially to the others in an effort to aurally demonstrate the partnership among the Suffs. Our onstage performances were not and are not divorced from the album in any way; rather, we all worked hard to communicate the experience of the show directly into the cast recording."
Brock notes the musical's ability to tap into the minds of historical figures. Similar to Hamilton, Suffs taps into the humanity of individuals that were previously only represented in history books.
"I love listening to 'Show Them Who You Are (reprise)' and 'Wait My Turn (reprise)' because they offer a little window into the humanity and complexity of these historical figures but I'm really excited for people to hear 'Respectfully Yours, Dudley Malone.' It's my first ever solo song on an album and the lyrics are verbatim the words Dudley Field Malone published in The Washington Herald all those years ago. Get into it!"
The musical features a 23-person cast of all women and non-binary performers, all showcasing their powerhouse talent through booming production numbers. When the full company unites on stage, Blanck feels they are at their strongest. Although the musical starts in 1913, she adds that she wants the current generation to "feel uplifted by the fact that a hundred years ago a band of young people stood up to the most powerful forces in the world and won."
"I can't wait for our listeners to hear 'The Young Are at the Gates.' When we sing it, I hold tightly in my mind the college students all across the country putting their bodies, futures, and scholarships on the line in passionate pursuit of a humanitarian demand. It is an anthem that I think represents the calls to action of young people today - and directly to our federal government, just as in the song."
Suffs (Original Broadway Cast Recording) includes the groundbreaking show's powerful call to arms, "The March (We Demand Equality)," which was released as a single prior to the full drop. The album also includes standout tracks such as "Great American Bitch," "If We Were Married," "Worth It," and "Ladies."
Book writer, composer, and lyricist Taub also stars 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. The musical's groundbreaking accomplishments continue further, with feminist icons Hillary Rodham Clinton and Malala Yousafzai serving as two of the musical's producers.
"I think this album will be one for the ages," Brock continued. "There's so much to digest in Shaina's lyrics! So many historical easter eggs and important themes that carry throughout the show. I hope those who listen take the time to dive into the history that is too big to fit into a 2.5 hour musical and be emboldened by the lessons American History can teach us about our present."
While the musical has amassed a strong legion of fans throughout its Broadway run, Blanck is hopeful that the album touches people beyond the New York theatre scene.
"I hope that this album reaches fans far beyond Broadway and inspires them to make change in their own communities; to keep marching; to join a protest; to create their own work. I've been fortunate enough to be involved with a couple cast recordings in my career, and I'm always extraordinarily moved by the way these archival compilations reach so many people and for years to come. It makes the work feel thrillingly immortal."
