won

“Suffs,” Shaina Taub’s musical about how women finally secured the right to vote in America, won Tony Awards for its book and score. It lost the best musical race to “The Outsiders,” but the respect it earned when it opened last spring on Broadway made it an unequivocal winner.

The show is having its Los Angeles premiere at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in a touring production that is smooth and smart. Taub’s work deserves nothing less than an A. The cast is excellent, the staging is graceful and the political message could not be more timely.

The show might not have the crackling vitality of “Hamilton” or the bluesy poignancy of “The Scottsboro Boys.” It’s a good deal more earnest than either of these history-laden musicals. There’s an educational imperative at the heart of “Suffs,” which deals with a subject that has been marginalized in schools and in the collective consciousness.

The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was ratified in 1920, a little more than a century ago. The history isn’t so distant yet I’m sure I wasn’t the only one at Wednesday’s opening who was learning about the forceful tactics that helped Alice Paul and her fellow suffragists push their movement over the finish line.

“Suffs,” a musical for the public square, is as informative as it is uplifting. It is above all a moving testament to the power of sisterhood. The struggle for equality continues to face crushing setbacks today, but Taub wants us to remember what can happen when people stand united for a just cause.

Alice (a winning Maya Keleher) doesn’t seem like a rabble-rouser. A bright, well-educated woman with a polite demeanor, she looks like a future teacher of the year more than a radical organizer. But she has an activist’s most essential quality: She won’t take no for an answer. (Keleher lends alluring warmth to the role Taub made her Broadway debut in.)

Marya Grandy and the company of the national tour of “Suffs.”

(Joan Marcus)

She’s rebuffed by Carrie Chapman Catt (Marya Grandy), the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Assn., whose motto (“Let your all-American mother vote”) is the basis for the show’s opening number, “Let Mother Vote” — a distillation of the old-guard approach that has yet to yield women the vote.

Alice wants to organize a march in Washington, D.C., to force the president’s reluctant hand, but Carrie prefers a more genteel strategy. “Miss Paul, if my late great mentor Susan B. Anthony taught me anything, it’s that men are only willing to consider our cause if we present it in a lady-like fashion.

“State by state, slow and steady, until the country’s ready” is, after all, NAWSA’s fundamental creed. But Alice points out that if they continue at this glacial pace they’ll be dead before they can ever cast a vote.

Swinging into action, Alice teams up with her friend Lucy Burns (Gwynne Wood), who worries that they haven’t the experience to take on such a momentous mission. “We’ve never planned a national action before,” she objects at the start of their duet “Find a Way.” But undaunted Alice has the bold idea of recruiting Inez Milholland (played at the opening night performance by Amanda K. Lopez), and a way forward miraculously materializes.

Inez has just the right glamorous public image that Alice thinks will give their march the publicity boost it needs. Studying for the bar exam, Inez is initially reluctant but agrees if she can lead the march on horseback.

This image of Inez on a steed becomes central both to the movement and to director Leigh Silverman’s production, which finds simple yet striking ways of bringing revolutionary change to life. A chorus line of activists wearing suffragist white (kudos to the luminous tact of costume designer Paul Tazewell) eloquently communicates what solidarity can pull off.

Brandi Porter, left, and Jenny Ashman as President Woodrow Wilson in “Suffs.”

(Joan Marcus)

An all-female and nonbinary cast dramatizes this inspiring American story. Taub takes some fictional license with the characters but largely sticks to the record.

Notable allies in Alice’s organization include Ruza Wenclawska (Joyce Meimei Zheng) a Polish-born trade union organizer with a no-nonsense grassroots style, and Doris Stevens (Livvy Marcus), a shy yet undeterred student from Nebraska who becomes the group’s secret weapon secretary.

Ida B. Wells (Danyel Fulton), an early leader in the civil rights movement, takes part in the march but resists being used as a prop in what she calls NAWSA’s “white women convention.” Mary Church Terrell (Trisha Jeffrey), a fellow Black activist, by contrast believes that it’s only through participation that representation can move forward.

President Woodrow Wilson (Jenny Ashman), who makes promises to the suffragists he is hesitant to keep, is a crucial target of Alice’s pressure campaign. Her group’s access to him is aided by Dudley Malone (Brandi Porter), Wilson’s right-hand man, who becomes smitten with Doris.

The score marches ahead in a manner that makes progress seem, if not inevitable, relentless in its pursuit of justice. The songs combine the patriotic exuberance of John Philip Sousa and the American breadth of Broadway composer Stephen Flaherty (“Ragtime”). The note of pop accessibility in Taub’s music and the satiric humor of her lyrics add to the buoyancy. You won’t leave humming a tune, but the overall effect (while ephemeral) is pleasing in the theater.

With the history already determined, the book can’t help resembling at times a civics exhibition. Dramatic tension is hard to come by. Alice and her cohorts suffer grave disappointments and indignities (including a harrowing stint in prison), but the eventual outcome of their struggles is known.

“Suffs” sometimes feels like a history lesson neatly compartmentalized into Important Episodes. There’s a whiff of PBS to the way the musical unfolds. This is cultural programming that’s good for you.

But the teamwork of the performers honors the messy yet undeniably effective cooperation of Alice and her freedom fighters — women who changed the world by not staying silent in their prescribed place.

South Korean stocks closed sharply lower Friday, as renewed concerns over an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble weighed heavily on big-cap tech shares. The local currency fell to the lowest level in seven months against the U.S. dollar on massive foreign stock selling.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) tumbled 151.59 points, or 3.79 percent, to close at 3,853.26.

Trade volume was moderate at 307.95 million shares worth 14.02 trillion won (US$9.5 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 718 to 177.

Foreigners sold a net 2.83 trillion won worth of shares, while retail and institutional investors bought a net 2.29 trillion won and 495.46 billion won worth of shares, respectively.

According to the Korea Exchange, offshore investors’ net selling reached its largest level since Feb. 26, 2021, when they offloaded 2.83 trillion won worth of shares.

The index opened lower, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, and further extended its decline as investors were wary of the valuation of AI-related shares and their aggressive investment plans.

Also affecting the sentiment was the Federal Reserve‘s monetary policy, as expectations for further rate cuts continued to wane.

“The market surrendered its gains from yesterday’s Nvidia earnings surprise. Following recent sharp gains, volatility appears to have persisted,” Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said.

“But there remains ample potential for sentiment to reverse depending on upcoming key economic data and additional AI-related developments,” the analyst added.

Tech shares dipped following a rally in the previous session.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 5.77 percent to 94,800 won, and chip giant SK hynix plunged 8.76 percent to 521,000 won.

Major battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 3.51 percent to 425,500 won, and LG Chem dipped 5.53 percent to 367,000 won.

Nuclear power plant builder Doosan Enerbility sank 5.92 percent to 73,100 won, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace shed 5.13 percent to 869,000 won.

Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy skidded 4.8 percent to 555,000 won, and its rival Hanwha Ocean lost 4.16 percent to 119,800 won. No. 1 steelmaker POSCO declined 3.42 percent to 310,500 won.

Carmakers finished mixed. Top automaker Hyundai Motor retreated 0.95 percent to 259,500 won, while its sister affiliate Kia rose 0.53 percent to 114,000 won.

Leading financial group KB Financial decreased 0.58 percent to 120,500 won, while internet portal operator Naver surged 2.14 percent to 262,500 won.

The local currency was quoted at 1,475.6 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 7.7 won from the previous session.

It marked the weakest level since April 9, when it finished at 1,484.1 won. The April 9 figure was the lowest since March 12, 2009, when the won closed at 1,496.5 amid the global financial crisis.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, ended higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 3.6 basis points to 2.872 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds lost 3.9 basis points to 3.076 percent.

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Theater veteran Elizabeth Franz, who won a Tony Award for her bold reinvention as the wife of the everyman title character in the 1999 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” has died. She was 84.

The actor died Nov. 4 at her home in Woodbury, Conn., after a battle with cancer, her husband, screenwriter Christopher Pelham, told the New York Times. Pelham also said Franz’s cause of death was cancer and a severe reaction to the medication being used to treat her.

The Ohio-born actor’s take on Linda Loman, the wife of Brian Dennehy’s Willy Loman, in the 50th anniversary production of “Death of a Salesman,” was a departure from the character’s usual defeated energy that took even playwright Miller by surprise: “She has discovered in the role the basic underlying powerful protectiveness, which comes out as fury, and that in the past, in every performance I know of, was simply washed out,” Miller said in a 1999 interview with the New York Times. The production, which originated at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre before Broadway, eventually made its way to L.A.’s Ahmanson Theatre.

Alongside Dennehy, Franz later reprised the role of Linda in Showtime’s TV adaptation of the play in 2000, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination.

She previously received a Tony nom in 1983 for her turn as Matthew Broderick’s onstage mother in Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs.” And later earned another nod in 2002 for “Morning’s at Seven,” in which she played the youngest of four Midwest sisters. Her other stage credits include “The Cherry Orchard,” “The Cemetery Club” and — in her final role on Broadway in 2010 — “The Miracle Worker.”

Franz’s TV credits included “Judging Amy,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Roseanne” and “Homeland.” A generation, though, came to know her as Mia Bass, the owner of the Independence Inn in Stars Hallow, in a Season 2 episode of “Gilmore Girls.” The minor, but essential-to-the-lore character was later recast in Season 7. She also appeared in the films “Sabrina,” “School Ties,” “A Fish in the Bathtub” and “Christmas With the Kranks.”

In addition to Pelham, Franz is survived by a brother, Joe.

MARTIN Freeman has been branded “selfish” after he complained about the noise from nearby schools.

The Sherlock star recently won a year-long battle with planners to put in new windows at his £5 million mansion to block out the din, despite being in a protected area which has strict rules on building appearance.

The Hobbit star snapped up the luxury five-bed pad, in north London, following his split from actress wife Amanda Abbington in 2016.

The planning inspector gave the green light for the new double-glazed windows after visiting the star’s home last month, and there were no submitted objections from neighbours.

Aside from the playground noise, Freeman had also insisted that most of the existing single glazed windows were so wonky from building movement that he couldn’t even open and close them properly.

In a statement, his planning agent said: “The noise is a major problem particularly during term time on weekdays due to the school located directly opposite.

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“The new units will reduce noise pollution from the street and school, improving the building’s internal environment.”

But some are unimpressed with the actor’s grievances about noise, with one dubbing him “selfish” and saying he was “overreacting”.

Ex-schoolteacher, Simon Bridge, 70, whose property backs onto one of the schools, fumed: “If neighbours are complaining about schools, I think it’s outrageous.

“The children make a noise, of course, the whistle blows, but come on.

“Go and live somewhere else, that’s my feeling. You’ve got money, go away.

“I’m a great lover of theatre, music and everything and I have nothing against actors whatsoever. But I don’t like people complaining about children, hearing noise, that’s all.”

When asked if he had any problems with the noise himself, he replied: “Not at all. I love it. Because I’m an ex-schoolteacher, I’m used to school.

“To hear children playing and laughing, that’s wonderful.”

Freeman’s mansion is in close proximity to several schools.

Retiree Sam De Silva has lived in a block of flats opposite the junior school for 12 years and has no complaints.

He said: “Well, as far as I’m concerned, the only issue with me is finding a place to park my car. I haven’t come across any noise issues, you know.”

When asked about his thoughts on grumblings about noise, he said: “I think it’s a bit selfish , I guess.

“There’s not a lot you can do, you know. I think he’s overreacting.

“I’ve been here for 12 years, my dad lived here prior to me. He’s never complained.

“Honestly, it’s a bit silly. These schools didn’t crop up, you know?

“My daughter goes to school down the road and I heard Taylor Swift bought a house down that lane.

“So if she can buy a house adjacent to a primary school, why the hell should we be complaining?”

Planning battle

Officials at his local council failed to make a decision on time so the Sherlock star appealed to a Government planning inspector who gave the go-ahead.

The council later said they would have refused to grant planning permission as the new windows would harm the designated conservation area.

Freeman’s planning agent said: “To all practical intents and purposes, the replacement windows would retain the appearance of the original single glazed windows and the appearance of the appeal property would be preserved.”

They said in a statement that planning officers wanted to negotiate on the application to a point where it could be approved but Freeman did not want to make changes.

A local caretaker, who didn’t want to be named, has worked in the area for nearly 30 years and said: “It’s only noisy when the kids are going in in the morning and coming out at night. But that’s where the house is isn’t it?

“What are you going to do? There’s a school there, a school there, a school there.

“The thing is, right opposite his house is the playground. So when I go past sometimes, the kids are in the playground running.

“But what’s that? Ten minutes – then it’s done.

“I don’t see him about much, he’s always away working. If he was here every day, I’d understand it.”

Other residents said the sound of children was a “joyful noise” and that they “wouldn’t have any complaints”.

The Office star’s Arts and Crafts-style pad boasts a basement gym, wine cellar and summerhouse and dates back to 1883 but is not listed.

He bought the massive mansion after cashing with with Hollywood movies Love Actually, Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War.

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He’s currently appearing onstage in The Fifth Step in London’s West End.

The Sun has reached out to Freeman’s reps for comment.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is heading for a sweep in the legislative assembly elections in the eastern state of Bihar.

The election in India’s third-most populous state, with 74 million registered voters across 243 assembly constituencies, has been viewed as a key test of Modi’s popularity, especially among Gen Z: Bihar is India’s youngest state.

Vote counting concluded on Friday after two phases of voting on November 6 and November 11.

Here is more about the election results and what they mean.

What was the result of the Bihar election?

As of 5:30pm (1200 GMT) on Friday, the NDA had won two seats and was leading in 204 out of 243, while the opposition Mahagathabandhan, or the Grand Alliance, with the Indian National Congress and the regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as the main parties, was leading in just 33 seats, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which is currently not part of either alliance, was leading in one seat. The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), another party that does not belong in either major alliance, had won or was leading in the remaining five seats.

BJP and allies

• Within the NDA, the BJP had won or was leading in 93 seats with a 20.5 percent overall vote share. 
• The regional Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), a key NDA constituent, had won or was leading  in 83 seats, with 19 percent votes overall.
• Another local NDA ally, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) or LJPRV, had won or was ahead in 19 seats.
• The Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RSHTLKM) was leading in four seats.
• The Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), or HAMS, had won or was leading in five seats.

Opposition alliance

• The Congress, India’s main opposition party, had won or was leading in five seats with 8.7 percent of the overall vote.
• The Grand Alliance’s biggest party, RJD, had or was leading in 26 seats with 22.8 percent of the vote.
• The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation), or CPI(ML)(L), was leading in one seat.
• The Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), was ahead in one seat.

How are Tejashwi Yadav and Maithili Thakur doing?

As votes were being counted, two of the most watched constituencies were Raghopur and Alinagar.

Raghopur has long been an RJD stronghold. But for some time during counting, Tejashwi Yadav, the son of RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and the party’s de facto chief now, was trailing behind BJP candidate Satish Kumar in the Yadav family bastion. This had switched to a 13,000 vote lead for Yadav by 1200 GMT, with most votes counted. If Yadav were to still lose, it will be a historic defeat for what was, many years, the first family of Bihar. He previously won the seat in 2015 and 2020. His father has also won from Raghopur twice in the past, while his mother, Rabri Devi, has won it three times.

Popular folk singer, Maithili Thakur, representing the BJP, was leading in the Alinagar seat, with the RJD’s Binod Mishra trailing by 8,588 votes — another close contest.

What is driving the results?

Female voters

Political analysts attribute the gains for the key governing party in this election to the appeals Modi’s party has made to female voters.

In September, the BJP transferred about $880m to 7.5 million women – with 10,000 rupees ($112.70) paid directly into their bank accounts – under a seed investment programme called the Chief Minister’s Women Employment Scheme. Modi’s office said: “The assistance can be utilised in areas of the choice of the beneficiary, including agriculture, animal husbandry, handicrafts, tailoring, weaving, and other small-scale enterprises.”

Women make up nearly half of all eligible voters in Bihar, where women’s political participation is on the rise. Female representation in the state has historically been low. But in 2006, Bihar reserved 50 percent of seats on local bodies for women, which has boosted their political representation.

Female voter turnout in the state has often surpassed that of men since 2010. The turnout among women this time was 71.6 percent, compared with 62.8 percent for men.

Voter ID checks

The opposition has also accused the ECI of deliberately revising the official voter list to benefit the BJP via a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls over the past few months. Registered voters were required to present documents proving they were Indian nationals and legal residents of the constituency in which they voted.

As Al Jazeera reported in July, however, many of the poorest people in Bihar do not hold any of the several documents that the ECI listed as proof of identity.

The opposition argues, therefore, that this new requirement could disenfranchise poor and vulnerable groups, including disadvantaged castes and Muslims, who typically vote for the RJD-Congress alliance.

In September, the ECI removed 4.7 million names from Bihar’s rolls, leaving 74.2 million voters. In Seemanchal, a Muslim-majority area, voter removals exceeded the state average.

What is the significance of these results?

Bihar is India’s third most populous state, home to 130 million people. It sends the fifth-highest number of legislators to parliament.

The latest vote has been viewed as a key popularity test for Modi, who was sworn in for his third premiership after he won the national elections in June 2024.

But the BJP failed to secure a majority in the national election on its own, forcing it to rely on regional allies such as the JD(U) to form the government.

Since the national election, the BJP has won most major state elections, and the streak seems to be continuing in Bihar.

ZOE Ball has moved a new man into her home – a mystery “lodger” who has “won more awards” than she has.

The Radio 2 presenter hinted at a new romance on her Dig It podcast, two years after her split from construction worker Michael Reed.

Zoe, 53, revealed her new living arrangements to co-host Jo Whiley when discussing Christmas gifts.

She said: “I’ve got this thing that I bought online, which is sort of like you hold the handle and it’s loads and loads of different bits of wood and you whack your legs and your underarms with it.

“It really helps circulation. I think it’s quite good for lymphatic drainage.

“I bought loads of them for people for Christmas …”

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Zoe continued: “I remember the first time the lodger walked in and saw me doing it, and just sort of turned on his heels.”

When Jo asked if the lodger was “still around,” Zoe replied: “He’s still here at the moment. He’s still lodging.”

Zoe did not reveal the man’s identity, but said he has “won loads of awards.”

Speaking about her own accolades, she said: “I did get a Sony and it was given to me by Marianne Faithfull. I was well chuffed.

“And I think Caner of the Year for something I can’t remember. 

“We won a BAFTA for the last ever Live and Kicking, which was amazing. But I don’t even have a copy of it …

“Yeah, the lodger has won loads of awards…”

The Sun has reached out to Zoe’s reps for clarification on whether the relationship is romantic or platonic.

Zoe’s ex-husband, DJ Norman Cook – better known as Fatboy Slim – recently spoke about their continued close friendship. 

The pair were married for 18 years before splitting in 2016 and share two children, Woody, 24, and Nelly, 15.

The DJ, 62, recently described Zoe as his “soulmate” while promoting his new photo book reflecting on his music career. 

“Zoe is a very kind, thoughtful person and she just had this way of checking my ego, like ‘We are still human beings. 

“We are still nice to people,’” he told The Sun.

He said Zoe helped him navigate fame in the 1990s: “In the 90s, I was having too much fun to think about the next day. 

“It became a whirlwind, but Zoe helped me through it as she knew that level of fame before. 

“It was nice to have a soulmate in there with you.”

Zoe’s last public relationship was with construction worker Michael Reed. 

The pair dated for five years before splitting in 2023. 

At the time, The Sun reported she had asked him to move out of her £2 million Sussex home after the relationship began to break down.

A source said: “Zoe is gutted but she’s better off without Michael. This is a relief to many of her friends, who think she has done the right thing.”

Before Michael, Zoe dated cameraman Billy Yates, who tragically died by suicide in 2017 after a battle with depression.

BALLSY MOVE

Zoe sold her countryside pile and moved closer to her ex Fatboy Slim last year.

The fan-favourite broadcaster previously lived there with her ex Michael yet it appeared she was eager for a fresh start.

Zoe called time on her relationship with the model in May 2023 after five and a half years together – with pals at the time saying they had “run their course”.

A source revealed she then traded in life in her rural Sussex home – complete with a swimming pool and tennis courts – for the more “lively” surroundings of Brighton and Hove.

Zoe sold up after the sad death of her beloved mum.

Also in her podcast with fellow BBC Radio 2 anchor Jo, Zoe revealed the heartbreaking impact of her loss.

She told her pal on the podcast last month: “I couldn’t work.

“I was on the floor in the kitchen. I couldn’t, I couldn’t move

“I had a proper emotional breakdown, you know, I haven’t really talked about it actually.

“But it was, yeah, it was brutal.

“I had an amazing doctor who turned up at my door with coffee and bagels and said, ‘so, we need to get you some help’, and he was wonderful.”

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She admitted the process of grief was ongoing.

Zoe told how she struggled particularly on the anniversary of her mum’s death and said there was “a lot of crying and pain” that “still has to come out.”