Attention all Hamilton fans! A new historical musical has come to South Jersey. This time, the story is about Alice Paul, a suffragist who lived in Mount Laurel. On October 27, Laura Bauche, Girl Scout and high school junior, put on a one-woman virtual musical with the Alice Paul Institute in Mount Laurel.

The production, “Her Voice, Our Vote,” was pre recorded and premiered on Zoom in association with the Alice Paul Institute, a historical landmark serving as a museum dedicated to suffragist Alice Paul.

The musical, including the script and four original songs, was written by Bauche. The performance was a part of her Girl Scout Gold Award, the most prestigious award in girl scouting.

“We love to share the stories of these women,” said Lucienne Beard, executive director of the Alice Paul Institute, when introducing Bauche’s film to over 110 audience members in the Zoom call.

Bauche said she first learned about Paul in 2019 when she visited the Belmont-Paul house in Washington, D.C. She was inspired to research the Suffrage Movement when she heard that the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment was in 2020.

“Alice is such a strong, independent woman; she deserves to have a whole musical written about her,” said Bauche when asked why she chose Paul as the topic of her musical.

The event was approximately one hour, consisting of a five-minute introduction, a forty-minute screening of the short film, and a fifteen-minute question and answer session.

In the musical, Bauche played the role of Paul. The musical relied on a flashback narrative. The scene frequently switched between “Alice Paul” speaking directly to camera and flashbacks of her life. Along with the film, Bauche included interactive historical questions for the audience to answer as the musical progressed.

The four songs described Paul’s struggles in protesting for women’s suffrage. In the first song, Paul says she “cannot be silenced [because] she wants something to feel pride in.” The songs combine historical fact with contemporary musical theater.

Bauche, a student at Kentucky County Day School in Louisville, planned to travel to Mount Laurel to perform the musical live. However, she realized an online format would work better during a pandemic.

“It’s taken me hundreds of hours; it’s been a very long and lengthy process, but I’ve enjoyed every second of it,” said Bauche.

Bauche continues to research women’s rights. As a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin, his seventh great-granddaughter, she plans to continue her passion for American history.