NC high school among the first in the nation to produce “SUFFS”
Mar 13, 2026 / Blog
When most high school students start prepping their spring musical, they know generations have tackled that same title before them.
But imagine getting first crack at performing the high school version of a new Tony Award-winning Broadway show.
For one North Carolina school, that’s exactly what students are experiencing this year with the musical “SUFFS.”
Middle Creek High School in Apex, part of the Wake County Public School System, is one of only 12 high schools across the country selected to perform an inaugural production of the show, which took home 2024 Tony Awards® for both Best Book and Best Score by playwright/composer Shaina Taub.
The school competed for “The Young are at the Gates” grant, a joint initiative from Educational Theatre Foundation and Music Theatre International. The grant provided winning schools with the exclusive rights to produce the show during the 2025 - ‘26 season before general release of the title through MTI. It covers all licensing royalties and rental fees for production materials (scripts and scores for actors and the orchestra).
Those items usually run about $2,500 per musical production, says Middle Creek theater teacher Meredith Garrett.
As part of the grant requirement, schools had to develop an outreach program to accompany their production. At Middle Creek, students have been busy creating an accompanying exhibit to teach the community more about women’s history.
“We’re turning our whole lobby into a museum,” says Garrett, who was also the keynote speaker at Blumenthal’s Arts Educator Network event on March 12. That event, which offers professional development and networking opportunities for area educators, will take place in conjunction with the “SUFFS” national tour’s stop in Charlotte, March 10 - 15 at the Belk Theater. Garrett will talk about the power of protest art to change the world.
(Middle Creek High School Theater teacher Meredith Garrett)
For Middle Creek’s production and exhibit, students conducted dramaturgical research on the early 20th century and the real people portrayed in the show. They explored all sorts of related topics, too, from the propaganda used prior to women’s suffrage to dissuade women from seeking the vote to major moments in the fight for equality at the polls and beyond. The school is reaching out to local middle schools and area Girl Scouts troops, hoping to bring more tweens and teens in to learn about the show and women’s history.
Other planned exhibits will highlight the different roles and responsibilities of elected officials. Pre-addressed envelopes to representatives of the Middle Creek community will be on hand, should visitors want to contact them. Additional displays will highlight organizations and opportunities for young people to get involved and advocate for their beliefs, even if they are not yet old enough to vote.
Garrett, who taught American history at the school for five years before helming the theater department, says her students “dove in head first” to their research.
“They show up to rehearsal and are just ready to go…it's such great material that even if they weren't the first ones to get to do it, they'd still be super excited. But that is a cool benefit.”
The journey to being one of the first schools tackling ‘SUFFS’
Garrett saw “SUFFS” on a trip she took to New York City in December 2024. She and her mom have an annual tradition of spending a week together checking out theater. Her mom suggested seeing “SUFFS,” which highlights the real stories of the women who led the fight for women’s suffrage in the final years leading up to ratification of the 19th Amendment.
“I hadn't really looked into it all that much at that point because I was a little ‘Hamilton’ burned out as a theater teacher,” says Garrett, who also teaches Civics at the school.
But part way through the performance, she was hooked.
“At intermission, I looked at my mom and I was like, ‘I'm going to do this with my students one day.’"
“Everything about it is just so beautiful,” says Garrett, noting the musical’s compelling story and music.
“The line that stuck with me the most was that ‘progress is possible, not guaranteed.’ And that's kind of become a little bit of my mantra… we can do anything we want, but we have to work really hard to make that happen.”
Adopting that new mantra
When Garrett heard that Taub would be speaking at the June 2025 International Thespian Festival in Bloomington, Indiana, she decided to delay announcing the following year’s school musical.
“We do a big end of year ceremony and usually I announce the season for the next year and I told them… ‘I'm not announcing the musical because I'm pretty sure that the rights are going to become available for what I really want to do this summer’ and they knew I really wanted to do ‘SUFFS.’”
Seeing Taub in person at the conference, Garrett could barely contain her enthusiasm.
“When they brought her out on stage at the opening ceremonies, I was losing my mind,” she says. “The children were actually taking a video of me, just bouncing up and down in my seat.”
What Garrett didn’t expect, however, was the announcement that only a limited number of schools would be eligible for rights and that it would involve a competitive process.
It sounded scary, especially since Garrett had never applied for a grant before.
But she went for it and spent the whole summer working on the school’s application.
That hard work paid off.
She says it’s been an incredible experience so far. And the opportunity has really inspired her students.
“We are just so excited about it and the kids have been engaged in it at every level, from the costumes to the dancing to the sets to everything.
“You know, theater kids are passionate in general, but it's been really cool to see them be extra engaged in this.”
For more information on Middle Creek High School’s production of “SUFFS” (April 23 - 25), go to MCHSTheater.org.
And don’t miss the national tour, now playing in Charlotte, through March 15! Tickets available here.
