A Broadway musical creator born and raised in Waitsfield won two Tony Awards on Sunday for her story and songs about the 1913 women’s movement that led to their right to vote.
Shaina Taub snagged best book and original score for “Suffs,” which dramatizes the drive by Suffragists for the 19th Amendment a century ago.
“I grew up in Vermont watching the Tonys every year with my mom on TV and dreaming of being a part of this magical community,” the 35-year-old said in the first of two acceptance speeches televised from Lincoln Center in New York. “Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”
Taub not only wrote the script, music and lyrics but also performs in the show, which is co-produced by 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.
Clinton introduced Taub during the ceremony as a “now two-time Tony winner,” then gave her a hug after the Vermonter and fellow cast members performed the song “Keep Marching.”
“To all of the theater kids out there watching, especially the loud little girls, go for it,” Taub, a graduate of Waitsfield Elementary School and Harwood Union High School in nearby Moretown, said in her second acceptance speech.
Taub isn’t the first creator from the Green Mountain State to win a Tony. Bolton cartoonist Alison Bechdel saw “Fun Home,” a musical inspired by her graphic memoir of the same name, snag five awards in 2015. New Haven singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell sparked eight for “Hadestown” in 2019. (Taub performed in the latter show’s off-Broadway run.)
Taub is writing the lyrics to Elton John’s coming musical adaptation of “The Devil Wears Prada,” which is set to premiere in London this fall. In the meantime, she’s aiming to make history with her show about the past.
“When we come together,” she concluded her second speech, “we are capable of making real change and progress in this country for equality and justice.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Broadway musical creator born and raised in Vermont wins 2 Tony Awards.