Up until recently, most of what I knew about women’s suffrage came from Mary Poppins. But after an hour at The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, I now know so much more.
Playing Sept. 21 & 22 at The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s Showtime Stage, Suffragettes: With Liberty and Voting for All is an empowering musical chronicling the long and often discouraging women’s suffrage movement in the U.S. The show successfully combines music, monologues, humor and frequent set and character changes, with the end result being a fast-paced, power-hour celebrating women’s hard-earned right to vote.
TCT’s Suffragettes shines a whole new light on women’s suffrage. It’s a must-see for older kids, tweens and even teens — the next generations of voters — and an inspiring reminder for parents of just how important our roles are.
Next year, we the celebrate the 100th anniversary of this major milestone. It’s hard to believe that a few generations ago, women couldn’t vote. And of course, running parallel with women’s suffrage was the abolition movement. That wasn’t so long ago. As parents (and a country), it’s so important for us to remember history, so that we can move onward and upward together. In Suffragettes, you’ll experience the empowering history of the brave women whose moxie paved the way for us today. (Side note: Susan B. Anthony was fierce. She was arrested in 1872 — nearly 50 years before women gained suffrage — for voting. When charged with a fine, she flat-out refused to pay. Sadly, Anthony died in 1906, never getting to see her life’s work come to fruition. But undoubtedly, her trailblazing and unbeatable spirit laid the groundwork for women’s suffrage.)
Of course, every Children’s Theatre performance I’ve ever been to has managed to exceed my expectations and teach me lessons I wasn’t expecting to learn. Suffragettes is no different. This isn’t just a play about a historical moment; Suffragettes shines a whole new light on the women’s suffrage movement — by reflecting the spotlight back on us as parents. While there were so many women (and men) whose passion and toils culminated in women gaining the right to vote in 1920, it was one legislator’s mother who literally changed the course of history. On the morning of the big vote, Tennessee legislator Harry Burn received a letter from his mother, Phoebe Ensminger Burn. In it, she urged her son to stand with the suffragettes. And the rest, as they say, is history.
As parents it’s up to us to raise informed, empathetic and educated kids. Happily, we have an ally in The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, a place for dreaming big and building confident and compassionate children. They are the future. And the future starts now.
The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s Suffragettes: With Liberty and Voting for All is showing Sat., Sept. 21 at 2pm and 5pm and Sun., Sept. 22 at 2pm on TCT’s Showtime Stage on Redbank Road. Tickets are available now and you’ll want to order those ASAP — the stage is small, and this show will sell out! This is also a touring show, so be sure to check your local library and community center for additional showtimes.