'Suffs' by Waitsfield native Shaina Taub earns Tony Award nomination for Best Musical

“Suffs: The Musical,” the Broadway production created by and starring Waitsfield native Shaina Taub, earned a Tony Award nomination Tuesday morning for Best Musical.

Taub, whose early stage appearances included roles with Lyric Theatre in Burlington, The Valley Players in Waitsfield and Stowe Theatre Guild, earned nominations Tuesday for Best Book and Best Original Score. She will compete in the latter category with part-time Vermont resident Adam Guettel, nominated for his score for the musical “Days of Wine and Roses.”

“Suffs,” which opened on Broadway on April 18, also earned nominations for Nikki M. James for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for her portrayal of suffragist and journalist Ida B. Wells; Paul Tazewell for Best Costume Design of a Musical; and Leigh Silverman for Best Direction of a Musical.

“Suffs” will compete for Best Musical – the top prize at the Tony Awards − against “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Illinoise,” “The Outsiders” and “Water for Elephants.”

Taub, who made her Broadway debut in the main role in “Suffs” as suffrage leader Alice Paul, was not nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. The nominees in that category include past Tony winner Kelli O’Hara for “Days of Wine and Roses.” The companion category for actors includes Brian d’Arcy James of “Days of Wine and Roses.”

Two ‘Back to the Future’ nominations

It’s been a big year for Vermont on Broadway, and not only because of “Suffs” and “Days of Wine and Roses.” “Back to the Future: The Musical” features two Vermont natives in its cast, Liana Hunt of Morrisville and Merritt David Janes of Colchester. That production earned two Tony nominations, for Roger Bart for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for his portrayal of Doc Brown, and Tim Hatley and Finn Ross for Best Scenic Design of a Musical.

Janes, who portrays Principal Strickland in “Back to the Future: The Musical,” announced Tuesday on Instagram that his last performance with the production will be June 23. That’s exactly a week after the Tony Awards will be given out June 16.

Another Broadway production in the past year with Vermont ties, the play “I Need That” starring Danny DeVito, did not receive any nominations Tuesday. “I Need That” began with a staged reading in 2022 at the Dorset Theatre Festival in southern Vermont, where playwright and part-time Vermonter Theresa Rebeck is the resident playwright.

‘Suffs’ follows ‘Fun Home,’ ‘Hadestown’

The nomination of “Suffs” for Best Musical makes three productions with significant Vermont ties to earn that honor in the past decade. “Fun Home,” which opened in 2015, was based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel of Bolton and included in its original cast young actor Oscar Williams of Charlotte.

“Hadestown,” which premiered on Broadway in 2019, began 13 years earlier as a streamlined touring production in Vermont created by Addison County native and singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell. The Broadway show included two Vermont musicians in the orchestra, arranger/guitarist Michael Chorney and bass player Robinson Morse, both of whom were with the production in its early days in Vermont. Taub performed in the off-Broadway production of “Hadestown” in 2016.

Both “Fun Home” and “Hadestown” won the Tony Award for Best Musical. Mitchell and Chorney also took home individual prizes.

“Suffs,” whose producers include former presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, will be featured on an original Broadway cast recording to be issued by Atlantic Records on June 14, two days before the Tony Awards. CBS and Paramount+ will broadcast the Tony Awards at 8 p.m. Sunday, June 16 from Lincoln Center in New York.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: 'Suffs' by Vermont native Shaina Taub gets Best Musical Tony Award nod