This is a full-cast audiobook recording for the musical "19." Coming off the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, I was excited to see this musical being produced! It did not work for me, however. I think many may love this though.

Things I didn't like:
The musical choices were not to my tastes. I did not enjoy the anachronistic language mingled into the dialogue either. Because of the anachronistic language, it became hard to tell what sentiments were of the time and what were the authors' interpretation of history. This made some of the race discussions... awkward, to say the least.

Things I did like:
The "characters" represented were very endearing. I researched many of them during and after the musical, and they were definitely amazing women that should be remembered. While I didn't appreciate the anachronistic language, I found the characterization of President Wilson very appropriate (and funny).

(Rating this with my fiction rating system, despite it being based on true events)
Characters 4/5
Plot 3.5/5
Storytelling 2/5
Enjoyment 2/5
Atmosphere 2/5

I really wanted to like this one. I'm a music teacher so I appreciate the musicians and the content, but I just really disliked the music and the characters. I thought this might be a great musical to bring to schools for educational purposes (other than the force feeding scenes), but it's a little too complicated for middle schools and I'm not sure high schoolers would connect.

Thank you to NetGalley and Through the 4th Wall for the advance audio recording of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect from 19: The Musical. It was unlike any other title I have ever received from NetGalley. It was sort of like a backer's audition recording, with one piano, and a full cast.

There were pieces reminiscent of Hamilton--a bit of homage? Like Hamilton, this story is taken from history (with a few timeline liberties), so the story itself cannot really be judged. Strong female characters, alarmingly one-dimensional male characters. Some scenes could easily be pictures; other scenes were harder to imagine from just the recording, though overview of scenes was included in the narration. Most horrifying to imagine was Alice Paul being force-fed in prison. Most memorable song was a duet between Alice and Ida B. Wells, each trying to get the other to stand in her shoes, when Ida wanted to march with the organizers, rather than with the Black contingent. Most powerful voice was probably the actress playing Wells.

Is there a place for 19? I could definitely imagine a touring company, with U.S. History classes in the audience. A video done with full orchestration would be almost as effective, and certainly more convenient and affordable to most schools. Still other schools would probably be interested in performing it. Broadway bound? Not without a bit more work.

I found this production to be educational and entertaining. The songs were good, the voices strong. The single piano gave it an audition feel. I could see teachers using it for women's studies classes or history classes studying suffrage. It does bring to life the names of that period.

If you don';t like opera this is probably not for you. I don't mind opera in the opera setting. Mt car an d my couch are not opera settings. I liked the story and the overall effect. It scares me that we are going backwards, would these strong women that fought for our rights approve of where we are right now? {This was a great story. It kept me wanting to keep listening. The narrator did a great job with the voices. The story had enough suspense to keep me hooked and wanting more. There was a pretty good twist at the end and the end tied up nicely. I would recommend this book to others for sure. Thanks Netgalley and Dreamscapes media for the opportunity to listen to this one. probably not, but I'm thankful that they fought for me way back then. The narration was good, the music was too much for me. I kind of knew what I was getting into but, still I had no idea. It was so loud and high pitched. So it you like opera this will probably be great for you . If you don't I would bypass this one. The story was great, I couldn't keep characters straight. The Netgalley app made it even harder since it kept failing. I listened to it in about two week intervals, That makes it hard to keep track of what is going on.

Firstly, as this is a full cast recording, I don’t feel like that byline gives it justice:

Book and lyrics by Jennifer Schwed and Doug Bradshaw.

Music composed and arranged by Charlie Barnett.

Featuring the voices of Katie Ganem, Millicent Scarlett, Maria Ciarrocchi, Brenda Parker, Meredith Eib, Brian Lyons-Burke, Elizabeth Keith, Sidney Davis, Karen Spigel, and Odette Gutierrez del Arroyo.

I am a theatre kid, so of course I was game to listen to this one. But, admittedly, turning a Broadway-style show into an audiobook seemed like a bit of a leap. This has all the music numbers plus the talking bits, so it is technically different from the soundtrack. It’s an interesting tactic, and I’ll be eager to see if they reach a wider audience for trying it!

The story here is the passing of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, giving women the right to vote. We follow several women who were working to get this passed for years before it happened. The first lead we really get to know is Alice Paul, who was educated in Britain, and learned from the women’s suffrage movement there.

As the story progresses, though, it gets much more complicated. Race becomes an issue – will black and white women receive the same rights at the same time? Some leaders of the movement think this fight should be fought at the state level, instead of aiming for one nationwide law. Some worry that it would seem unpatriotic to criticize any aspect of the current government as the US heads into World War I. There are even entanglements between the women’s suffrage movement and the temperance/prohibition movement.

This is a lot to include, but I felt the musical managed to do so quickly and succinctly, without holding up the movement of the story.

The music here is standard Broadway fare – some numbers sound like show tunes, some feature a bit of gospel flair, and some sound like the piano-heavy styles we’ve all heard featured in movies set in the 1920s or so. The words are sometimes more modern, though – the idea of “reclaiming my time” plays an important role, and some of the men’s parts are reduced to them just saying “mansplain, mansplain, mansplain.” (That part made me laugh out loud, honestly.)

This is a fun little jaunt into US history – even though the story isn’t all fun and games, and the women sometimes face some serious consequences. For those of us listening at home, though, it creates a palatable way to learn more about the topic. And at just over 2.5 hours, it’s a short audiobook to take in.

This concept of adapting a musical into a full cast audiobook was really cool. Unfortunately, the actual musical didn't do it for me. I feel like it tried too hard to be Hamilton and none of the songs caught my attention. I really wanted to like this because it had all the elements of something I should love, but I didn't. Hopefully others will enjoy it more.

This was a new one for me. I have tried to stretch myself into new genres this year and this one certainly checked the box on that goal. 19: The Musical began as a stage show a few years ago and has since been adapted into this unique audiobook.

The message on women's' rights was as important a topic back then, as it is now. Taking the most prominent women in that time in history and making their stories both engaging and interesting, was very creative. Such a cool way to give voice to those who paved the way for the rest of us. The musical numbers were a joy to listen to; such talented people. Plus I give all credit to any book that showcases the irritation of 'Mansplaining'. The stage directions included in the audiobook made it much easier to visualize what it must have been like to see it on stage.

Though I am not sure I would incorporate this type of audiobook often in my future listens (I would rather see the show live!) I was happy to have ventured down this path for something a little different, and appreciate the early copy given to me by Books Forward PR!

If you are a big musical theater fan, this one might be worth the listen.

It was alright, I probably will avoid this drama again as an audiobook. It was more like a music soundtrack which I was not expecting

This book was good about including Black women purposefully left behind in the quest to gain the right to vote for women except at the end. It ended saying women have the right to vote but completely left out Black women didn’t get the right to vote until decades later.

Songs were alright, could have been better

Fun audiobook. I really liked the way it brought history alive. It was a little weird when I used my normal speed, but hearing the music really made the story pop. I am excited to try more audiobooks in this style.

4 stars

I was excited to listen to this, but I was puzzled about how it would work. The key was not to expect a typical audiobook. You are listening to a musical with the help of stage directions and a narrator. It worked well. I found it very entertaining and educational, which is exactly what I look for in historical fiction. ****Full review on www.novelpastimes.com

Author: Jennifer Schwed and Doug Bradshae
Format: 🎧
Narrated by Katie Ganem, Millicent, Matia Ciarrocchi, Brenda Parker, Meredith Elg, Brian Lyon-Burk, Elizabeth Keith, Sidney Davis, Karen Spigel and Odette Guiterrez del Arroyo
Publisher: Through the 4th Wall
Genre: Historical- Musical
Audiobook Pub Date was: April 2, 2024
My Rating: 3 Stars

This is an actual musical!
The story is told in Two Acts
Act 1 has 19 Scenes and
Act 2 has 14 Scenes
It is the story of Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Inez Milholland and the other suffragists who fought to get women the right to vote — the 19th Amendment.

As a high school guidance counselor I attended many high school productions- plays, as well as vocal and music performances. This did remind me of our annual Veterans Day program which included narration as well the orchestra playing music appropriate for the scene.

This Historical Musical Theatre production was interesting and I learn more about the suffragette movement.

Thank you NetGalley and Through the 4th Wall for this interesting audiobook.
Audio Pub Date was April 2, 2024.

Released April 2, 2024, 19: The Musical, a new full-cast audiobook, is an adaptation of the 2019 stage production of the same name, with book and lyrics by Jennifer Schwed and Doug Bradshaw, and music composed and arranged by Charlie Barnett. The show provides a detailed backstory of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to vote.

The women's suffrage movement in the United States of America is one of those historical events that's been flattened into a handful of names and locations and dates. We know there was a parade, some picketing - wasn't somebody beat up or something? - and marching, and then we look up the date that the 19th Amendment passed and was ratified, and that's it. 19: The Musical gives life to this history, fleshing out the names, being very descriptive of the locations, and being quite specific about the dates. This approach best reveals the sheer longevity and sometimes fierce and violent battles that made up the movement.

Those more familiar with the history will be assured to know that in the two-and-a-half-hour production, the "silent sentinels" and the "night of terror" are covered, along with the forced feeding of the women protestors, while they were on hunger strikes in prison, in both the UK and the USA.

If this musical does anything -- within its obviously Hamilton-inspired flourishes of using some present-day slang and phrases, some race-bending, a variety of song styles, some near-rap battles between characters (and an overlong Act I) -- it shows the days, the weeks, the months, the years, the decades that it took for women to get the vote. It did not happen overnight, and at several points along the way, it looked like it might not happen at all, especially in the later years of the movement while World War I raged in the late 1910s. One song in the show has the refrain, "Protest, arrest, release, repeat."

There were two schools of thought; get a federal amendment added to the Constitution, or fight for women's right to vote state-by-state, with both sustaining successes and failures along the way. Fundraising was always front-of-mind, which took its own toll. Race was an issue in these relatively early post-slavery times, and the production doesn't shy away from showing there was racism in the ranks (and it is hardly a secret that this right to vote wasn't actually extended to Black women until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965). The women participating in the parade and in later protests were indeed met with physical violence, from male individuals in the general public, and from the male power of the state, by policemen, prison doctors, and prison guards.

Most like Hamilton, 19: The Musical does give us the chance to directly attach the movement's actions, directions, and decisions to that jumble of names associated with it, both the well-known and lesser-known: Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, Ida B. Wells, Carrie Chapman Catt, Inez Milholland, and Susan B. Anthony. A talented cast of women singers give these unconventional figures of history spark and sorrow, persistence and fortitude. It is Alice Paul, an American who fought with the suffragettes in the UK and then returned home to help bring along women's suffrage in the USA, who took the fight directly to President Woodrow Wilson, visibly picketing the White House with her National Women's Party members on a daily basis. Upon finally being granted an audience with the embarrassed POTUS, in the first of a handful of meetings, he tells her to wait and trust that women will get the vote--eventually. Just not now. The history of broken promises decades prior, to Anthony and others, keeps Paul and Party picketing -- protest, arrest, release, repeat -- until the 19th Amendment is not only passed in 1919 but also ratified in 1920.

The song that bookends the musical itself is titled, "Easy," which admonishes at the beginning and reminds at the end that none of getting to the 19th Amendment was easy to accomplish. And because the fight took so long, it makes sense that Act II pulses with a song titled, "Reclaiming My Time." The phrase became closely associated with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), after she was shown effectively and expertly using the phrase in a Congressional hearing with then Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, in a video clip that went viral in 2017. Admittedly a little jarring to hear the phrase from Alice Paul and her suffragettes. But the meaning is the same; no more time is to be wasted on worthless pursuits, but on ways to move forward and achieve the goals ahead.

The most complete record of 19: The Musical is this audiobook. But it should be noted that an advance, abbreviated performance of the stage production was livestreamed on YouTube by the National Archives, back in 2019. The National Archives also posted a discussion of the musical with the book and lyrics writers, Jennifer Schwed and Doug Bradshaw, in 2020. Composer Charlie Barnett wrote about 19 :The Musical on his website and has some of the songs on Bandcamp.

Follow 19: The Musical on Instagram. Hear a couple of scenes/songs from the audiobook on the 19: The Musical SoundCloud.

This was a really good recording, and the cast was excellent! I felt like I was listening to the musical from backstage as it went on. The cast brought the words to life! That being said, I wasn't particularly moved by the actual musical itself. The music and lyrics felt uninspired and, at times, too anachronistic. I don't tend to love that in musicals! It just didn't work for me.

I wish more Broadway plays did books like this because it makes art so much more accessible.

The sprinkled in modern references took away from the flow for me. It felt forced and out of place. They needed to either go all out with modern language or cut it out completely. There were also some lines in some early songs that felt a little wordy and jumbled.

I needed there to be more discussion about the fact that racist women were prioritized over women of color and fighting for “all women” realistically meant “all white women” because the southern states didn’t let any Black people, men or women, vote for almost another 50 years.

I really enjoyed this. The music was beautiful & it taught a lot about the suffragette movement.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

This was a fun and interesting audio book. The narration was very good. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't bad.

<i>19: The Musical</i> is an audio version of the musical telling the story of suffragists Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Inez Milholland and their tireless work to get women the right to vote. Before listening to this musical, I had no idea how much brutality the suffragists endured to get us the right to vote. I really enjoyed this musical and would love to see more musicals converted to audiobooks like this.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book.

This is an audiobook recording of 19: the Musical. This is the story of women's suffrage and the women who worked so hard to make the 19th Amendment happen. Told in spoken word and brilliant and catchy songs, 19 is not to be missed. While I am sure seeing a live production would be the ultimate experience, the audiobook performance can stand on its own. Full of HERstory and the modern quips and references which make Broadway what it is, 19 is fun and engaging to listen to and informative from the perspective that women's stories are so often glossed over in HIStory class. Bravo to the writers and entire cast!

Listen to this with your girls!

Thank you to NetGalley and Through the 4th Wall for the opportunity to listed to the audiobook ARC.

Super interesting to engage with a musical this way thorugh an audiobook format. It was definitly a first for me but it worked. I could definitly see the inspiration from Hamilton for this musical.
The message and overall story of the book was good and at times brutal - but the brutality was also necessary. I feel like it hit it's mark in that regard. There were a few times were I don't feel like the Hamilton-esque inspiration really worked. Meaning the occasional 'clever' and 'modern' sentences and utterings by the historical characters felt a little off. It didn't feel integrated into the store presentation the way that it did with Hamilton. I think this is mostly due to the music. The music was very often in a very historical format with one song almost being an opera - or at least sung by someone who clearly has done work in the opera. They weren't formatted in a modern or 'hip' way that Hamilton's songs were, which made the inclusion of modern expressions a little odd at times.
That being said I am glad I invested my time into listening to this audiobook/play. It was very interesting and I definitly earned a lot about the women's rights movement in USA that I did not know before.