The fight for women’s right to vote is often taught in textbooks as a sequence of dates, amendments and famous names. But students at Cherry Hill West High School are stepping directly into that history — singing it, debating it and bringing it to life on stage.

Only 12 high schools in the country were selected to perform the Broadway hit musical “Suffs” – the story of the suffragists who fought for women’s right to vote. Cherry Hill West, one of the chosen and the only NJ high school – will present the musical this month. For students, it’s a chance to better understand the women who helped drive the movement.

“One of the things Shaina told us was that, when she wrote the show, she wanted high schools to do it. She wanted this to be a teaching tool.”

One of those women brings a South Jersey connection to the students: Mt. Laurel’s Alice Paul – the suffragist who helped lead the fight for the 19th Amendment – is the central figure of the musical.

Junior Sophia Capprotti plays Paul. 

“My favorite song is ‘Insane,’” she says of the moment when Paul is on a hunger strike and must decide whether breaking her fast means survival or surrender.  “Her determination and stubbornness are the best things about her, but they could also be what gets her in the end.”

The opportunity to produce the show at the high school level came through a grant called “The Young Are at the Gates,” named for one of the musical’s rallying anthems. Shaina Taub, the musical’s writer, composer and star, and the show’s producers made an unusual decision: to release the show to a small group of high schools while it’s still touring, trusting students to carry forward its story of political courage and change.

For Cherry Hill West’s Director Carolyn Messias, that opportunity carries both excitement and responsibility.

“One of the things Shaina told us was that, when she wrote the show, she wanted high schools to do it,” Messias says of Taub, whose mother grew up in Cherry Hill. “She wanted this to be a teaching tool.”

That mandate shaped West’s application. Messias reached out to the Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice and the League of Women Voters, building civic partnerships directly into the proposal that would shape the students’ experience of the show.

Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice representatives visited the school to speak with the full company about Paul’s strategy, imprisonment and hunger strike – as well as the fractures within the movement itself. The entire cast and pit, more than 100 students, also traveled together to see the national tour in Philadelphia in January.

The cast also watched “Iron Jawed Angels,” a dramatized history of the suffragists’ fight for the vote that includes the brutal force-feeding of women jailed for protesting (including Paul).

Beyond the principal actors studying the biographies of their characters, ensemble members each chose a real suffragist to portray onstage.

“I told them, ‘Find a suffragist. Learn who she was. Take that onto the stage so you’re creating a character based on someone real. You’re living that experience,’” Messias says.

They also discussed what it meant to be a woman in the early 20th century.

“We talked about the time period,” Messias says. “You were your husband’s. You couldn’t vote. You couldn’t have your own money.”

As part of the grant, West’s technical team is documenting the experience on film, capturing rehearsals, interviews and reflections as the production takes shape.

Messias says the impact of these civic lessons tied to rehearsals was undeniable.

“I could see a difference after the presentation with the Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice in the way they created their characters,” she says. “They felt empowered by what they learned.”

The trip to Philadelphia did more than inspire the students. It helped shape their performances.

Elena Cotes, who plays journalist Doris Stevens, reached out on Instagram to Libby Marcus, the touring actress in the role. In the scene where Doris lists the many times President Woodrow Wilson refused to support the amendment, Marcus offered a practical tip.

“She suggested writing the dates inside the book Doris carries, just in case,” Cotes says, referring to “Jailed for Freedom,” Stevens’ firsthand account of the fierce battle for equality. “I thought that was really smart.”

Capprotti had a similar exchange. After the show, she DMed Maya Keller, the touring company’s Alice.

“She was super sweet,” she says. “She played Alice differently than Shaina Taub – a little more fun, more bubbly. It was a nice reminder that I don’t have to do exactly what they did on Broadway.”

Messias says the licensing agreement requires fidelity to the script and score. West received approval to soften one brief reference to sexual behavior at the district’s request. The rest remains intact.

She says the song “Great American Bitch,” a biting song about how outspoken women are labeled, has sparked controversy in some of the chosen school communities.

At West, it will be performed as written – strongly supported by the cast.

“It’s not just cursing for the sake of cursing,” says senior Madison Dempsey, who plays Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the more established National American Woman Suffrage Association. “Those were the words used against women.”

One difference from the Broadway production: on tour, women play every role, including the men. At West, male students step into those parts.

Paxton Fletcher portrays President Woodrow Wilson – the president who withheld support for the amendment until mounting protests made neutrality untenable.

“He was just a random president to me,” Fletcher says. “I’d never really learned anything about him. And now he’s gone down in my ranking.”

Senior Laila Arnauer, who plays Inez Milholland, was thrilled to take on one of the movement’s most electric figures – the charismatic activist who collapsed while campaigning for the vote at age 30. 

“A lot of people are afraid to say what they really think,” Arnauer says. “Inez wasn’t. She spoke her mind – and she died for this movement. That’s inspiring.”

For Capprotti, Alice Paul was once just another name in history.

“Before the show, I didn’t know anything about her,” she says. “Which is crazy, because she lived like 10 minutes away from us.”

Being in the role, she says, has made Paul’s resolve feel immediate and real.

That tension comes through most clearly in the song “Insane,” she says. It’s Paul’s searing solo about whether her hunger strike will move the cause forward or destroy her. Capprotti sings, “Progress is possible, not guaranteed.”

“Alice actually did do something to change things, even when the odds weren’t in her favor,” she says. “That’s really inspiring to me, especially as a junior trying to figure out what I’m doing with my life. If she could do it when the odds weren’t in her favor, I can too.”

The experience has also changed how she looks at the present.

“All this stuff in my head definitely makes me see what’s going on in our world differently,” she says. “Every time I open the news or Instagram, I think about it.”  

“Suffs” runs April 10-19 at Cherry Hill High School West.