Shaina Taub's 'Suffs' Earns Six Tony Nominations, Including Best Musical

Hannah Cruz as Inez Milholland, center, and the ‘Suffs’ company Credit: Courtesy of Joan Marcus

Suffs, the musical created by Waitsfield native Shaina Taub, received six nominations on Tuesday for the 2024 Tony Awards, including a nomination for Best Musical.

Taub, 35, wrote the book, music and lyrics for the show, which chronicles the final, turbulent years of the women’s suffrage movement. She stars as Alice Paul.

Taub was nominated for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.

Nikki M. James as Ida B. Wells in ‘Suffs’ Credit: Courtesy of Joan Marcus

Nikki M. James, who plays Ida B. Wells, was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical.

Suffs‘ other nominations went to Leigh Silverman for direction and Paul Tazewell for costume design.

Hell’s Kitchen, Alicia Keys’ coming-of-age musical, and Stereophonic, David Adjmi’s play about an up-and-coming rock band (featuring original music by Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire), tied for the most nominations received at 13. The Outsiders, a musical adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s novel of the same name, garnered 12 nominations.

Suffs, one of 15 new musicals on Broadway this season, opened April 18 at the Music Box Theatre with Hillary Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai as coproducers. Rachel Sussman and Jill Furman are lead producers.

Shaina Taub as Alice Paul in ‘Suffs’ Credit: Courtesy of Joan Marcus

Best Musical is “generally the prize with the biggest economic impact,” according to Michael Paulson of the New York Times. The other musicals vying for that honor are Hell’s Kitchen, Illinoise, The Outsiders and Water for Elephants.

Back to the Future: The Musical, which features two Vermont actors, earned two nominations: Roger Bart, for his performance as Doc Brown; and Tim Hatley and Finn Ross, for their scenic design.

Morrisville native Liana Hunt, Taub’s friend since their days acting together as children in Lyric Theatre productions, stars in that musical as Lorraine Baines/McFly. Colchester native Merritt David Janes plays Strickland, the Hill Valley High School staffer turned principal. The show takes Hunt back to Winter Garden Theatre and the stage where she made her Broadway debut at age 23 as Sophie in Mamma Mia!

In all, 36 plays and musicals were eligible for the 2024 Tony Awards.

Winners will be announced at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City on Sunday, June 16. Academy Award winner and Tony-nominated actor Ariana DeBose will host for the third time. “The 77th Annual Tony Awards” will be broadcast on CBS and live streamed on Paramount+ starting at 8 p.m.