Theatre Troupe Depicts California Suffragists

Theatre troupe Acting Out & About will be singing suffragist songs and introducing its audience to historical women at an upcoming performance at the .

The Nov. 17 event, which is free and open to the public, follows a string of acts by the performance arts group, including two dates in Sacramento to celebrate the California Suffrage Centennial.

Cathy Foxhoven, creator and director of , said her troupe was invited to perform for centennial events on Oct. 9 and 10 due to her affiliation with the California American Association of University Women. (The organization’s co-president Gloria Taylor, co-chaired the events; Foxhoven is a member of AAUW California’s Board of Directors)

“They said, ‘we need some kind of entertainment and I said, ‘well, I got it for you,’” Foxhoven said.

The theatre troupe was already versed in singing about famous women in the months of March and going into classroom to make living history presentations, she said.

The suffragist songs, which date back to 1911, were originally sung by California women fighting for the right to vote.

“One of them was called ‘Another Star,’” Foxhoven said, “because there were five states that had the right to vote and if California got it, it would become the sixth state.”

She said suffragist organizers would use melodies from popular tunes and change the lyrics; “Another Star’s” music originally came from an old Irish song.

For the living history presentation, Foxhoven portrays Selina Solomons, a San Francisco suffragist who started a soup kitchen for women. “She would feed them and then talk to them and pass out pamphlets and tell tem how important it is to be able to vote,” she said.

Acting Out & About performed at the San Francisco Public Library on Oct. 22 and yesterday did some numbers for the Berkeley League of Women Voters.

On Nov. 17 the troupe will sing six suffragist songs with information in between, Foxhoven said. Two presenters will portray Selina Solomons and another will bring suffragist Clara Shortridge Foltz to life, she said.

The event starts 7 p.m. at the Burlingame Woman’s Club, 241 Park Road.