Cherry Hill West students are performing the ‘Suffs’ musical, among only 12 schools in the country selected for it

After learning about Alice Paul in AP History at Cherry Hill West, Sophia Capprotti jumped at the chance to portray the suffrage leader.

Capprotti headlines a cast that is bringing the women’s rights movement and the fight for passage of the 19th Amendment to life in Broadway’s historical musical Suffs.

Cherry Hill was among only 12 schools nationwide selected this school year by the play’s creator, Shaina Taub, to produce the Tony Award-winning musical about the fight for women to vote.

The show opened Friday and will continue with three more shows this weekend.

School officials said the musical has been a teaching tool.

“I don’t think some of them even knew any of these women prior to doing the show,” said Carolyn Messias, a theater teacher and the director of the production. “I can truly tell you they have learned a lot.”

Messias says the play has been more than a history lesson.

Students are applying it to today’s political climate and thinking about voting when they turn 18.

Jaime Scott, 15, a sophomore, said playing lesser-known Black suffragist Mary Church Terrell, whom she knew nothing about, was an eye-opener. It is her first musical.

“It’s an experience to play a historical role like this. It’s a lot, but it’s good,” said Scott. “I’m definitely more educated now.”

» READ MORE: In Tony-nominated ‘Suffs’, girl power comes to Broadway, South Jersey style

The musical chronicles the final years of the suffrage movement from 1913 to 1920, and efforts by Paul, the feisty activist and South Jersey native who championed the cause. It culminates in the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

“I really didn’t know much about this point of history at all,” said Madison Dempsey, selected to portray Carrie Chapman Catt, a leading figure. “It’s inspiring to be able to take the hope from them and be able to apply it to now.”

Messias quietly began compiling a grant application last year for West to obtain rights to perform the play. The school had to show its creativity and that it could handle the theatrical demands.

With guidance from the Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice in Mount Laurel, Messias incorporated the historical theme in the proposal and provided videos from other productions.

Messias was not allowed to share the news with students until auditions opened in December. The grant waives licensing and other fees that typically cost $1,200.

“I’m not good at keeping a secret, but I did,” Messias said with a smile. The play won a Tony in 2024 for best original score and best book of a musical. It played in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music last year.

Capprotti, 17, a senior, said she had learned about Paul and Ida B. Wells, a Black suffragist and journalist who advocated for women’s rights and social justice.

“When I heard about Suffs, I was naturally very very excited,” Capprotti said. “I pretty much knew from the start that I was going to audition for Alice Paul.”

Unlike the all-female Broadway version, West included male actors in its production. Messias said she wanted to expand the opportunity beyond girls. There are more than 100 students in the cast and crew, including a student orchestra.

The show starts with a powerful scene from the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C. The activists, dressed in all white, march down Pennsylvania Avenue the day before Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated as president.

Amid the tension between Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, a protégé of Susan B. Anthony who had different views on how they should approach the fight for equality, Wells reminds them to push for the rights of all women, not just white women.

Junior Jada Caldwell, 17, embraced her role as Wells. an investigative journalist and co-founder of the National Association of Colored Women. She said it was “insane” to learn how Wells and Terrell risked their lives “knowing that they would have to fight 10 times harder” to get the right to vote as Black women.

In a solo, Caldwell belts out her criticism of Paul and the other white organizers in a song called “Wait My Turn.”

Wait my turn?

When will you white women ever learn?

I had the same old talk with Carrie Chapman Catt

Twenty years ago

I thought you might be better but you still don’t know

You want me to wait my turn

To simply put my sex before my race?"

Capprotti said the play offers an important history lesson about Paul and others that should resonate with all students. West scheduled a matinee performance for students this week.

“I felt so lucky to be able to tell her story and talk about the history that doesn’t necessarily get talked about a lot,” she said. “I think it’s really special that we get to dive in and really shed a light on these women.”

» READ MORE: ‘Suffs,’ ‘Kimberly Akimbo,’ ‘The Outsiders,’ and more Broadway hits to land in Philadelphia this year

Olivia Errico, assistant director for public programs at the Alice Paul Center, a nonprofit in Mount Laurel that seeks to empower girls and young women, said the play has inspired a new generation of activists.

“The right to vote is something that a lot of people take for granted at this point,” Errico said. “People fought for generations for this right.”

Even before opening night on Friday, the play created a buzz in Cherry Hill. Mayor Dave Fleisher stopped by a dress rehearsal and asked Gov. Mikie Sherrill to send a message to the cast.

Camden County Commissioner Jennifer Cooley Fleisher and County Clerk Pam Lampitt presented Messias and the cast with a plaque and saluted the movement for opening doors for them.

“Our struggle has not ended. It just continues,” Lampitt said.

Capprotti said she hopes the play will inspire her peers to stand up for their beliefs and get involved to make a difference like the suffragists.

“It’s really important that even though things aren’t the best, but they can get better. It’s not easy, but you sure have to try,” she said.