10 Broadway shows about women in real life

Happy Women’s History Month! Women’s stories are not just in books. Women in real life inspired some of the most beloved shows in Broadway history, where they lead the narratives and clearly tell their own stories.

Whether their lives are told on Broadway, such as Gypsy Rose Lee, or the past seasons, like the Suffragist-these real pioneers and history makers remind the audience that women’s voices deserve to be heard and celebrated.

1. Enough (Alice Paul, Carrie Chapman Catt, Ida B. Wells)

Enough In 2024 on Broadway, he achieved a Tony victory in the same year for book and score (with Creator Shaina Taub making theater history by being the first woman who won both prizes himself). The show brought the story of the Suffragist Alice Paul – along with the victories and failures of the women’s voting movement that led to the ratification of the 19th amendment – to the stage. Paul was an outspoken advocate for the voting rights of women, and strategized movements such as the Women’s struggle of 1913, the Pacific Sentinels Protests, and more.

The musical also contains several other real suffragists: Ida B. Wells, Carrie Chapman Catt, Lucy Burns, Inez Milholland, Ruza Wewlawska, Doris Stevens, and more. As Taub told Playbill: “Suffs are in many ways a celebration of the Suffs and a warning story about the dangers of progressive struggles.” Although Enough is closed on Broadway, it is currently working on a national tour and the show is eventually broadcast on PBS.

2. Evita (Eva Perón)

Evita Tell the story of the real Eva Perón, an actor who became the mighty and controversial first lady of Argentina. Perón became a central figure of Argentine culture and influenced greatly through her charity, the Eva Perón Foundation – which advocated for women’s voting rights. She died young at 33, but the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice Musical ensures that her legacy and complexity continue. The original 1979 Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Patti Lupone’s performance in the title role. The show also contains a number of songs that have become musical theater standards, including ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’ and ‘Another Suitcase in another hall’.

In recent years, several attempts have been made Evita Back to Broadway, with Sammi Cannold directing a version for New York City Center in 2019, and Jamie Lloyd directing an upcoming West End version this summer. Which version will come to Broadway? Stay tuned for the Rainbow Tour.

3. SES: The musical (Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna van Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr)

Do you remember them from PBS? The stories of the six women of Henry VIII are brought to stage in this musical of Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, with each character being modeled to another pop diva (from Beyoncé to Adele to Ariana Grande).

Most Americans know the general core of the story of Henry VIII and his six wives; He had six of them and beheaded two, one of whom was the mother of Queen Elizabeth I. Sixwhile every woman of Henry VIII is going forward to tell her story – and to show the audience that she is more than “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.” Premiere to many fanfare in the West End in 2019, Six Quickly transferred to Broadway – the show has since entertained (and educated) on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, which shows that there is a robust audience for women stories set to an ‘sick partner’.

4. Funny girl (Fanny Brice)

We would be shocked if you had “not rained on my parade” yet, but did you know that Fanny Brice was a real person? The actress, comedian, model and singer was the creator and star of the popular radio comedy series The baby snooks show. In addition to numerous radio programs, Brice was a capital letter of the Ziegfeld Folliesand a Broadway Exporter – her signature song was “my husband.”

The musical Funny girlbased on her life, promoted on Broadway in 1964, starring Barbra Streisand. The show made Streisand such a star (probably ‘The Greatest Star’) that she re -performed her performance for the 1968 film adjustment. Funny girl was revived in 2022 with Beanie Feldstein and later, Lea Michele as Bryce. The show is currently touring nationally.

5. Fun house (Alison Bechdel)

Based on cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir of the same name, Fun house Trace Bechdel’s journey of self -discovery as she explains her identity as a lesbian. The show also does not like Bechdel’s complicated family dynamics, especially her relationship with her cabbage father.

The musical has won a Tony Award for Best Musical Play. The creators, Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, also made history as the first female writing team to win a Tony for the best score and best book. It was also a watershed moment for lesbian representation on stage: “Even musicals about women, where women are the central characters and not just a romantic starring and really have its own story [are rare]”Bechdel said in a Playbill 2013 maintenance. “The moment with little Alison singing over the Butch Delivery Woman, feels big. To make a child sing about desire and identification; This is brilliant. ‘ This year is the 10th anniversary of Fun houseWe open on Broadway, which means it’s a good time to say “Heading: Happy Birthday Fun house! “

6. Gypsy (Gypsy Rose Lee)

Based on the memoir of the famous burlesque artist (and talkshow host) Gypsy Rose Lee, Gypsy is currently working on Broadway’s majestic theater. The show follows The Life of Rose (six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald), an ambitious stage mother who prints her daughters, June (Jordan Tyson) and Louise (Joy Woods), relentlessly, into the show business.

In the Jule Styns-Stephen Sondheim-Arthur Laurents musical, the character of Louise is based on Lee, and June’s character is based on her sister, June Havoc. But Gypsy Distinguish from other musicals about famous stage artists. For one, it considers himself a ‘fable’ instead of being strict bio-musical-and he no longer has to look it like Lee and her mother. Second, instead of Lee, her mother Rose is the main character and sings some of the most beloved songs in the history of the musical theater: “Rose’s Turn” and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” It shows that a compelling story can be found just outside the spotlight many times.

7. The miracle worker (Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan)

This family drama by William Gibson is based on the memoirs of activist and author Helen Keller. The miracle worker Keller’s life from early childhood travels in the 1880s Alabama, when a disease left her blind and deaf, until the day her teacher helped Annie Sullivan Keller find her first words.

The miracle worker The first time at Broadway in 1959, where it won four Tony Awards, including Best Play and for Anne Bancroft’s performance as Keller. It has since become a beloved story, which has been told and retelled in schools and community theaters across the country.

8. Lempicka (Tamara de Lempicka)

Lempickawhich appeared in Broadway in the spring of 2024, follows Tamara de Lempicka, an aristocrat who fled with her husband from the turmoil of the Russian Revolution to Paris, where she finds fame as a painter. In addition to her paintings of modern, independent women, Lempicka was also openly bisexual, something dramatized into the Carson Kreitzer-Matt Gould Music by the slightly fixed character of Rafaela. Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman arose the roles of Lempicka and Rafaela respectively, and each received a Tony award for her actions.

‘Women are forced to make difficult decisions every day of their lives … and many times we become a certain way for it: cold, ambitious, unsafe, difficult,’ Espinosa tells Playbill Last year about why she wanted to tell Lempicka’s story. “And my plot with[[Lempicka]was to find the humanity … you don’t have to love her. I don’t ask you to do this, but I want you to empathize for her struggle and feeling for her. ‘

9. Side show (Daisy and Violet Hilton)

This musical by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger was inspired by the true story of the composite twin Daisy and Violet Hilton – who toured Sideshow, Vaudeville and Burlesque Circuits in the 1920s and 1930s. The first known twins born in the United Kingdom were forced the Hiltons to act during their childhood until they sued their managers in 1931 and were legally released. After being freed from their contract, the sisters returned to Vaudeville; As the genre of execution fell out of fashion, the twins disappeared in uncertainty.

Although the original Broadway production of 1997 of Side show Only for 91 performances was it loved for the human portrayal of the sisters; It earned four Tony Awards nominations, including best musical. A revised version, which contains more historical details about the Hiltons, was opened on Broadway in 2014. Although the twins tragically died in 1969, Side show Ensure that their story and struggle are not forgotten.

10. The unnoticable molly brown (Margaret Brown)

The unnoticable molly brown Tell the Rags-to-Riches story of Margaret “Molly” Brown-which was a champion for women’s rights, labor rights and immigration reform. Although you may know her, the most famous is a survivor of the Titanic. The Meredith Willson and Richard Morris tell her full story.

The original production was opened in Broadway in 1960 with Tammy Grimes, who won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a musical. The show hosted two years. It was soon adapted to a musical with Debbie Reynolds. A reworked version-what Brown portrayed as a more progressive and modern woman-played the Abrons Arts Center off-Broadway in 2020, with Beth Malone (of Fun house) Starring.

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These are just a few of the many Broadway shows on real women. Below are a few more. What is your favorite show about a real woman?