-Welcome back. You look fantastic.
-Well, I'm wearing a hat from the show.
Oh, I thought this was an Easter thing that you just...
-Left over. -Left over.
-But it goes for both.
-It does. -Very multipurpose, you know?
And I brought one for you. -[ Chuckles ]
I see this here now. -Don't you think
that he would look really good?
-This is very thoughtful, I appreciate this.
Thank you so much. [ Laughter ]
This is very -- Thank you so much.
I will wear this with pride, I really will.
Yeah. -[ Laughs ]
-You actually did bring me...
-Well, I did bring you a real hat, yeah.
-Ooh, look at this. A real "Suffs" hat.
-Yeah, a real "Suffs" hat.
You know, sort of purple,
yellow, and white were all suffragist colors.
So I thought... -This is perfect.
Thank you for this. I'll rotate them.
-Yeah I think rotating would be a good idea.
-Should we take this off for the...
-Probably. -Okay. Let's take them off.
It is so great to see you.
Thank you so much.
I can't wait to talk about "Suffs."
You must be very proud and very excited about this.
-I'm so excited.
-First I want to know, how was your Easter?
How are the grandkids? -They're great.
They're great, you know,
they're nine, seven, and four right now.
And so the four year old would not eat lunch
until he saw the Easter Bunny.
-Yeah. -That was a problem.
-He's like, "Yeah, I'm not doing this.
What's this? I was promised..." -We did the egg hunt.
We did the egg hunt, which was great.
And, you know, it was a little bit "Lord of the Flies,"
but it worked out.
-As it is, yeah. -Yeah.
And then, so we were at a restaurant
and they'd had an Easter Bunny, but the Easter Bunny had left.
-Yeah. -So the waiter goes,
"Oh, I see that this is a challenge.
I will be right back."
And he went, and I don't know
where he dragged this poor person from,
but he was in the full regalia.
I think he might have been on the Fifth Avenue.
-Yeah, he's like, "I just left," He's like, "Let's go do it."
-"Hurry up, this kid won't eat until he sees you."
-Here's a photo of the Easter Egg Roll.
-Yeah, that was at the White House.
-At the White House, sure. -Yeah.
-Now, what's interesting about this is someone --
It's always someone that everyone knows
plays the Easter Bunny.
-Well, it's usually the member of the staff
that draws the short straw.
-Yeah. Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-You know what you'll be doing Easter Monday.
-Yeah, you know, I was lucky enough
to go to the White House Easter Egg Roll last Easter.
And so they had the same thing.
Nice Easter Bunny's walking around.
I think it was one of President Biden's assistants.
-Yeah. -And he's talking to the bunny,
like it's their assistant.
He's like, "So anyway, blah, blah, blah."
And I go, "Hey, stop talking to this bunny.
People are gonna think that you're crazy."
No one knows that that's your assistant.
Everyone thinks the president is talking to the Easter Bunny,
so stop doing it.
-I mean, you can imagine what Trump would do with that, right?
-Oh, and he did.
He did do it. Yeah.
-No sense of humor. -Zero sense of humor.
-I mean, come on. They were telling jokes.
-Can we, uh -- Yeah.
Can we talk about the upcoming presidential election?
-Oh, no, let's stick with... -Yes, we have to.
-...the Easter Bunny. -We have to know.
No more Easter Bunny talk.
I mean, it's Biden versus Trump.
We know that -It is. It is.
-What do you say to voters
who are upset that those are the two choices?
-Get over yourself. Those are the two choices.
-Yeah, I love that. -Right?
And... -Yeah, good.
-You know... [ Applause ]
It's kind of like one is old and effective and compassionate,
has a heart, and really cares about people,
and one is old and has been charged with 91 felonies.
-Yeah. Okay. -I mean...
-Okay. Interesting. [ Cheers and applause ]
-I don't understand why this is even a hard choice.
Really, I don't understand it.
But we have to go through the election
and hopefully people will realize what's at stake.
Because it's an existential question.
What kind of country we're going to have,
what kind of democracy we're going to have.
And people who blow that off are not paying attention,
because it's not like Trump -- his enablers,
his empowers, his allies --
are not telling us what they want to do.
I mean, they're pretty clear
about what kind of country they want.
-Yeah. Get out there and vote.
-Get out there and vote.
And that's what this is really about.
Get out there and vote.
I mean, this is such an exciting,
I would even say thrilling story of real life women,
you know, great American women
like Alice Paul and Ida B. Wells
and Carrie Chapman Catt.
I mean, real, real historic figures
and what they went through to get us the right to vote.
And so when people blow it off
and you think about these women picketing, marching,
going to prison, being force fed to get the right to vote, right?
And you can't just blow it off.
I mean, it was important then,
it's as important right now.
And the story is really powerful.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I actually have been to a few Broadway plays with you,
with you in attendance as well,
and I, you know, sometimes I go in to see a play,
sneak in whatever.
People recognize me, "Oh, that's cool."
I walk in, I'm sitting there, people go,
"Wow, that's pretty cool."
You walk in standing ovation. Standing ovation.
Everyone's like, people love you.
Especially in New York, people love you.
And I go, "Wow," and then it was a pleasure,
it was an honor to sit next to you.
-Yeah. I love it when you see a play kind of in formation.
And it's such a brave thing
for somebody to put themselves out like that.
And the young woman who wrote this, Shaina Taub,
I mean, she partly was inspired by the 2016 election
and all of the questions that were raised back then.
And she wanted to tell this story,
but it's so scary.
I mean, you're out here every night and,
you know, you probably have gotten used to it by now,
right, that you're out here every night.
-Yeah, I love it. -But, I mean,
you put yourself out, you're on a stage
and, you know? -Pressure.
-Yeah, it's enormous pressure.
And so I've watched this from the Public Theater
when I first saw it in 2022,
in the summer to now on Broadway.
And the work that's gone into it
and the joy that they have in putting it together,
it's so infectious.
-They have to be proud.
How did you get involved as a producer?
-Well, in the -- I went to see it at the Public Theater.
And then a year later I got a letter from Shaina,
the woman who conceived it, wrote it,
the music, the everything about it.
And she asked me if I'd be willing to be a a co-producer.
I said, "Well, you know, I've never done that before."
She said, "Yeah, but, you know, you've kind of lived the story.
You understand the story."
And I said, "I'd love to if it's, you know,
if you want me to, I'm in."
So they sent me a video in the summer of 2023
of the reworked play,
and she was just, you know, so excited to share it with me.
And I watched it, you know,
and I took notes and I got back to them
and I talked through what I thought and what I thought,
you know, could, you know, make it even better.
-Yeah. -And it was it was so exciting,
Jimmy, I have to tell you. -It's a big deal.
-It is a big -- It's a big deal for me.
-And now it's on Broadway,
-And now it's on Broadway.
And people who are seeing it are some of your team backstage
have already seen it.
And it's a real story,
and because it's a real story, you see the friendships,
you see the conflict,
you know, it's also a great depiction of
how you make change in America,
how frustrating it is, the outside-inside game.
I mean, the people who'd been at this for so many years
and they're getting tired,
but they're thinking, you know,
they've got to convince President Wilson,
they've got to convince the Congress,
and they're playing the inside game.
Then the younger women who always show up and say,
"Wait a minute, we've got to do it differently."
And they'd been in England
and they'd seen how the suffragettes in England
had pushed for the vote.
And so there's a conflict between those
who've been at it a long time
and those who want it done faster,
and they think they have a better idea.
It's such a great drama
and the music is absolutely contagious.
And the last -- the last song,
not to give anything away, is about keep marching.
And what is more important than to be reminded right now
that, you know, there's so many things going on in this country,
so many things going on in this world,
and progress is possible,
but not guaranteed.
That's one of the lines in the play.
And I think, boy, that is 100% right.
-Keep going. Keep marching.
Congratulations on the musical.
Thank you so much for coming on. -Thank you.
-Hillary Rodham Clinton, everybody.
"Suffs" is playing now
at the Music Box Theater.
Jonathan Groff joins us after the break.
Stick around, everybody.