What the Constitution Means to Me

Oct 24Nov 12, 2023
Written by:Heidi Schreck
Directed by:Amy Anders Corcoran
Regional Premiere
Located at:Copaken Stage

Read the Program

Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.

Schreck’s timely and galvanizing play became a sensation off-Broadway before transferring to Broadway where it received two Tony Award nominations among countless other accolades. The New York Times hailed What the Constitution Means to Me as “not just the best play to open on Broadway so far this season, but also the most important.”

Unleash your mind and ignite powerful conversations on democracy, equality, and justice with What the Constitution Means to Me — a thought-provoking exploration of our constitutional rights.

The Saturday, November 4th 2pm performance of this production will include ASL interpretation from Juliana Ladd and Lisa Wirken.

What the Constitution Means to Me features personal stories and experiences from the playwright, Heidi Schreck, which are intertwined with broader political themes. These themes include gender-based violence, reproductive rights, and systemic inequalities. It is recommended for ages 14 and up. This show is 1 hour and 40 minutes long with no intermissions.

Why you Should See What the Constitution Means to Me

Because this coming-of-age story features an interactive, onstage debate. WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME will both charm and inspire you!

Cast

MIA CABRERA
Debater

TJ LANCASTER
Mike/Legionnaire

CHRISTINA SHORT
Debater

JENNIFER WESTFELDT
Heidi

 

Creative Team & Management

 

Directed by
Amy Anders Corcoran

Associate Director
Amanda Clark

Scenic Design
Rana Esfandiary

Costume Design
Arwen J. White

Lighting Design
Erica Lauren Maholmes

Sound Design
Megan Culley

Dramaturg
Ashton Botts

Production Stage Manager
Nicole Wiegert

Production Assistant
Addison Price

Casting
JZ Casting

Local Casting
Andi Meyer

Understudy – Heidi
Hillary Clemens

 

ACTORS

MIA CABRERA (Debater) (she/her) KCRep: Evita, A Christmas Carol. Local: Little Women the Musical (The Barn Players); Matilda (title role, Theatre in the Park); The Adams Family (Wednesday, White Theatre at the J). Mia is also a part of Kansas City A Capella Soundproof. (@kcacapella_soundproof). Education: senior at Blue Valley Southwest High School. IG: @miacabreradavila 

TJ LANCASTER (Mike/Legionnaire) KCRep: Sunday in the Park with George. Local: West Side Story (Lyric Opera Kansas City); Hairspray (Starlight Theatre); The Fantasticks (Spinning Tree Theatre); I Am Harvey Milk (title role, Heartland Men’s Chorus); Into the Woods, Kiss Me, Kate (Musical Theatre Heritage, director Sarah Crawford); House of Blue Leaves (Equity Actors Readers Theatre, director Doug Weaver); The Normal Heart (Relevance Theatre); 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee (Padgett Productions). Regional: The Lifespan of a Fact (North Carolina Stage); Art, Little Shop of Horrors (Greenbrier Valley Theatre); Indecent (Max & Louie Productions); Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Actors Theatre of Indiana); Barefoot in the Park (Moonstone Theatre); Damn Yankees, The Fantasticks, Greater Tuna (Great Plains Theatre); My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof (Tent Theatre). Upcoming: Clue (STAGES St. Louis, summer 2023). Radio: Right Between the Ears (Kansas Public Radio/Sirius XM. tjlancaster.com AEA Member 

CHRISTINA SHORT (Debater) (she/her) KCRep: debut. Educational: Not Medea, The SpongeBob Musical, Much Ado About Nothing, No Exit, Good Kids (Theatre Northwest at Northwest Missouri State University). Awards: Region 5 Irene Ryan Scholarship Winner (2021). Education: BS in Theatre Performance, Northwest Missouri State University. 

JENNIFER WESTFELDT (Heidi) KCRep: debut. Broadway: Wonderful Town (Tony nomination, Theater World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut, Drama League Award). Selected Off-Broadway: The Gett (Rattlestick Theatre, 2022); The Library (The Public Theater, dir. Stephen Soderbergh); The Explorers Club (Manhattan Theatre Club); Too Much Sun (The Vineyard Theater); A Lifetime Burning (Primary Stages, dir. Pam McKinnon); The Fantasticks (Sullivan Street Playhouse). Selected Regional: Big Sky (The Geffen, dir. John Rando); The Power of Duff (NYSAF, The Huntington); Finks (NYSAF); Sweeney Todd (Pittsburgh Public); Peter Pan (Denver Center Theatre Company); A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Rep Theater of St. Louis). Selected TV: Younger (Hulu/TVLand, recurring, four seasons); “This is Us”, “Girls,” “24” (recurring) “Grey’s Anatomy” (recurring) “Private Practice”, “Notes from the Underbelly,” (series regular) “Two Guys, A Girl and A Pizza Place,” (series regular), “Holding the Baby” (series regular), “Hack” (recurring), “Judging Amy,” (recurring). Film: Kissing Jessica Stein, writer/actor/producer (Indie Spirit Nomination, Golden Satellite Award -Best Actress in a Comedy, GLAAD Media Award, multiple audience awards); Ira & Abby, writer/actor/producer (Best Actress, HBO Comedy Arts Festival, multiple audience awards); Friends with Kids, writer/director/actor/producer (Top Ten of 2012 – New York Magazine, NPR); Lemon, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Circus Kid (producer), Parachute (SXSW 2023). Education: BA in Theater Studies, Yale University. Proud Member of SAG, WGA, AEA, DGA. 

UNDERSTUDIES: 

HILLARY CLEMENS (Heidi) KCRep: KC Rep:Mermaid (Monday Night Playwright Series). Local:Little Women, Spider’s Web, A Doll’s House, A Lie of the Mind (Kansas City Actors Theatre); Shakespeare in Love, Hamlet (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival). Regional: As You Like It (Chicago Shakespeare); Romeo & Juliet (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare); The Great Gatsby, Boeing Boeing, The Game’s Afoot (Indiana Rep); A Christmas Carol (ACT); Othello (Seattle Shakespeare); Ski Dubai (Steppenwolf Theatre), The Illusion (Court Theatre), Picnic (Writer’s Theatre); Bethany, Three Sisters, Vigils, Cloud 9, Blithe Spirit (The Gift Theatre); Fallen Angels, Yentl, Once in a Lifetime (Asolo Rep); As You Like It, Major Barbara (American Players Theatre); The Miracle Worker, Twelfth Night (Indiana Festival Theatre); A Room with a View (Lifeline). HillaryClemens.com AEA Member 

STAGE MANAGEMENT 

NICOLE WIEGERT (Production Stage Manager) KCRep: debut. Regional: Goodspeed Opera House, Hartford Stage, Theaterworks Hartford, Long Wharf, CT Rep, Mountain Playhouse, Ivoryton Playhouse, Theater by the Sea, First Stage Milwaukee, Renaissance Theatreworks, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Public Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theater. TV: House Hunters, Extreme Cheapskates, Biggest Loser. AEA Member 

CREATIVE TEAM 

HEIDI SCHRECK (Playwright HEIDI SCHRECK is a writer and performer living in Brooklyn. Her critically-acclaimed play What the Constitution Means to Me played an extended, sold-out run on Broadway in 2019, and was nominated for two Tony Awards. It had subsequent runs at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Mark Taper Forum, the Guthrie, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and the McCarter as well as theaters in Houston, Miami, Omaha, Nashville, Charlotte, and Chicago. A filmed version of the play premiered on Amazon Prime Video, and was nominated for a Critics Choice Award, a PGA Award and DGA Award. What the Constitution Means to Me was named Best of the Year by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Time Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, The New Yorker and more. Schreck’s other plays Grand Concourse, Creature, and There Are No More Big Secrets have also been produced in NYC and all over the country. Screenwriting credits include I Love Dick, Billions, Nurse Jackie, Dispatches from Elsewhere and shows in development with Amazon Studios, Plan B and A24. She is the recipient of three Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and a Theatre World Award; as well as the Horton Foote Playwriting Award and the Hull-Warriner Award from the Dramatists Guild. Schreck was awarded Smithsonian Magazine’s 2019 American Ingenuity Award, for her work in the Performing Arts. 

AMY ANDERS CORCORAN (Director) (She/Her/Hers) KCRep: debut. New York: Unexpected Joy (York Theatre); I Am My Own Wife (Two Turns Theatre Company, site specific in Brooklyn); Escape to Margaritaville, Associate Director (Broadway). Regional directing: Christmas in Connecticut (Goodspeed Musicals); Disney The Little Mermaid (Disney Cruise Lines, The WISH); Freaky Friday, associate director (Signature Theatre/La Jolla Playhouse/Alley Theatre/Cleveland Playhouse); Circle Mirror Transformation (Water Tower Theatre); Beehive (Pennsylvania Centre Stage). International: Unexpected Joy, Cult! The Musical (Southwark Playhouse, London); One Way (The Other Palace, London); Edinburgh 7 (workshop, Festival Theatre at the Traverse, Edinburgh; 21 Chump Street (Director/Choreographer). National Tour: Escape to Margaritaville. Director/Choreographer: Five Guys Named Moe, Smokey Joe’s Café (Pennsylvania Center Stage); Bomb-itty of Errors (Second Thought Theatre); Little Women (University of Kansas); State Fair (Okoboji Summer Theatre); She Loves Me, In Trousers (Penn State University); Wizard of Oz (Weathervane Playhouse); All Night Strut (Bristol Valley Theatre). Upcoming: Beautiful (Olney Rep), Teacher of the Year, Senior Class. Affiliations: SDC. Education: MFA in Directing for the Musical Theatre Stage, Penn State University; BA in Psychology and Minor in Voice Performance. University of Kansas with Distinction. amyanderscorcoran.com 

RANA ESFANDIARY (Scenic Design) (She/Her/Hers) KCRep: Twelfth Night, Chasing Gods, Cubic (Costume/Scenic). Regional: Love & Information, Everybody, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (University of Kansas). Costume Design: Urinetown, Syncorax, Airness (University of Kansas); The Wolves (Montclair State University). Lighting Design: The Legend of Georgia McBride, La Cage aux Folles (Kansas Repertory Theatre); Mascot (Projection, The Living Room); Sunset Baby (Melting Pot KC Theatre). Director: Gaza Monologues (Zoom production, Stanford University, Abbasi Program); Ashes to Ashes (University of Kansas). Awards: Commendation Award for Achievement in Costume Design Sycorx (The Kennedy Center of American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), 2020); Commendation Award for Achievement in Scenic Design for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (KCACTF, 2019); Kuhlke Humanitarian Award, University of Kansas, 2018; Joseph R. Roach Dissertation Research Award (University of Kansas, 2016-2017); Diversity Leadership Award, Group Category Interactive Theatre Group (University of Kansas, 2016). Education: Ph.D. (with honors, Theatre Studies) and MFA (with honors), University of Kansas; BA in Playwriting, Art University of Tehran, Iran. Dr. Esfandiary is an Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas. ranaesfandiary.com  

ARWEN J. WHITE (Costume Design) (She/Her) KCRep: Flood (Hair/Makeup Design). Local: A Chorus Line, R & H Unplugged (Music Theatre Heritage); Dr. Dolittle, Pigeon, Pete the Cat (The Coterie); Marys Seacole, The Sound Inside, Clyde’s, Toni Stone, Tiny Beautiful Things, Lifespan of a Fact, Who’s Your Baghdaddy?, The Revolutionists, Sweat (Unicorn Theatre); Sketchbook for Ollie (Lyric Opera); Motherfreakinghood, Gruesome Playground Injuries (Fishtank Theatre); Little Shop of Horrors (Padgett Productions); Something Rotten, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pan (The White Theatre at the J); Tommy (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre); Chainsaw (The Living Room); Wicked Creatures (Confluence Theatre); the light burns blue (Stage Play). Regional: Tartuffe (Landlocked Opera). Film: Plot to Kill Jesse James, History Channel. Education: BA, Theater Design and Construction, UMKC. Ms. White is the founder and lead designer of Juste Jaquet Designs. arwenjwhite.com  

ERICA LAUREN MAHOLMES (Lighting Design) (She/Her) KCRep: debut. Regional: The Inferior Sex (Trinity Repertory Company); Sense and Sensibility (Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Great Lakes Theater); Jelly’s Last Jam (Cape Fear Regional Theatre); Three Little Birds (First Stage Children’s Theatre); Matt & Ben (Penobscot Theatre Company); Amerikin (Alley Theatre); Newsies Jr. (Lincoln Community Playhouse); The Cake (Omaha Community Playhouse); The Fairy Doll (Kansas Ballet Company); The Mountaintop (Lincoln Community Playhouse); Where is the Beloved Community? (Wabash College). Assistant Lighting Design: Bald Sisters (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); The Notebook: A New Musical (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); The 39 Steps (Great Lakes Theater); The Gradient (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis); Pipeline and Into the Breeches (Cleveland Playhouse). Upcoming: Revolution (A Red Orchid Theatre); Pipeline (Omaha Community Playhouse); Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical (First Stage Children’s Theatre); Sanctuary City (Assistant Lighting Design, Steppenwolf Theatre Company). ericalaurenmaholmes.com 

MEGAN CULLEY (Sound Design) (She/Her/Hers) KCRep: Holmes & Watson Apt. 2B, The Old Man and the Old Moon (Associate Design). Regional selected: Antigone (Cleveland Play House); The Loophole (The Public Theater); Grounded/Hurricane Diane (Dobama Theater); Terminus (New York Theatre Workshop); Stranger Sings! (Off-Broadway); 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (ACT of CT); Inanimate (The Flea Theater); The Last Match (B Street Theatre); Roan @ the Gates (Luna Stage); The Color Purple (Theatre Horizon). Associate Design selected: A Christmas Carol with Jefferson Mays (Broadway); Flying Over Sunset (Broadway); The Secret Garden with Sierra Boggess (Center Theatre Group); Come Fall In Love (The Old Globe); Kiss My Aztec (Hartford Stage). Affiliations: United Scenic Designers Local USA 829; Associated Sound Designers and Composers Association. meganculley.com IG: @mculleysounddesign  

AMANDA CLARK (Associate Director) (she/her/hers) KCRep: debut. Regional: Romeo & Juliet, A Freeman of Color, All My Sons, The Good Body, Frankenstein, and DOVE (Swine Palace); Snow White (Galli Theatre); Romeo & Juliet and Richard II (Hamlet Isn’t Dead); Anton in Showbusiness (Openstage Theatre); Pippi Longstocking, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and The Word Show (Playmakers of Baton Rouge). Education:  MFA, Louisiana State University; BA, University of Northern Colorado. 

ASHTON BOTTS (Dramaturg) (She/Her) KCRep: debut. Local Scene Design: The Laramie Project (The Barn Players); The Curious Savage, The Giver, a Musical (Olathe Civic Theatre); Bat Boy the Musical (The Arts Asylum). Upcoming Scene Design: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (The White Theare at the J); We Are Blood (Olathe Civic Theatre). Performance: Bright Star, The Drowsy Chaperone (Olathe Civic Theatre); Kinky Boots, Something Rotten, Newsies, Anything Goes, Young Frankenstein (The White Theatre at the J); First Date (The Barn Players); Bonnie & Clyde, Sex with Strangers (SMET Theatrics). Education: JD, University of Missouri School of Law; BA, William Jewell College. IG @ashtonbotts 

JZ CASTING: GEOFF JOSSELLSON, CSA  KATJA ZAROLINSKI, CSA  (New York Casting) Geoff Josselson, CSA and Katja Zarolinski, CSA are New York-based casting directors, handling productions for theatre, film and television. Recent work includes productions for Arena Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, Cape Playhouse, Denver Center, The Irish Repertory Theatre, Merrimack Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Round House Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Theaterworks Hartford, Weston Playhouse. jz-casting.com  

ANDI MEYER (Kansas City Casting) (She/Her) Based in Osage/Kikapoo/Kansa/Sioux/Otoe Missourria ancestral territory (Kansas City), Andi is an award-winning Kanaka Maoli/Asian American theatre maker/activist, arts educator, and parent. She is the Producing Artistic Director of Tradewind Arts, a boutique arts organization devoted to illuminating, motivating, and amplifying the voice of Native Hawaiian, Oceanic, and Asian American artists. Andi was a 2017-18 Charlotte Street Foundation (CSF) Studio Resident. Her work has been recognized with support from ArtsKC, TCG, Asian Arts Initiative, The Kauffman Foundation, Charlotte Street Foundation, JOCO libraries, InterUrban ArtHouse, and the Dramatists Guild Fund, as well as two NEA award winning projects in partnership with The Coterie Theatre including Hana’s Suitcase and the upcoming Justice at War. Andi has appeared in productions at The Unicorn Theatre, The New Theatre, The Coterie, The Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Disney’s Spirit of Aloha, with voice and on-camera clients including Hallmark, H&R Block, Sprint, and McDonald’s. AEA Member 

CONCORD THEATRICALS (Licensor) Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical company, comprising the catalogs of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, Tams-Witmark and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, plus dozens of new signings each year. Our unparalleled roster includes the work of Irving Berlin, Agatha Christie, George & Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lorraine Hansberry, Kander & Ebb, Kitt & Yorkey, Ken Ludwig, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dominique Morisseau, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Thornton Wilder and August Wilson. We are the only firm providing truly comprehensive services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals, including theatrical licensing, music publishing, script publishing, cast recording and first-class production. Concord Theatricals is passionate about cultivating theatre and making it accessible for all. Beginning in 2020, a portion of our commission from every license will be set aside to create a fund for significant annual donations to nonprofit organizations whose emphasis is to support theatre writers and composers, and music and theatre education. With offices in New York, London and Berlin, we have the most expert staffers in the industry. 

Original Broadway Production Produced byDiana DiMenna Aaron Glick Matt RossMadeleine Foster Bersin Myla Lerner/ Jon BiermanJenna Segal/ Catherine Markowitz Jana Shea/ Maley-Stolbun-Sussman Rebecca Gold/ Jose Antonio VargasLevel Forward Cornice Productions Lassen Wyse Balsam Nederlander Productions/ Kate Lear
What the Constitution Means to Me was commissioned by True Love Productions.
This production originated as part of Summerworks in June and July 2017, produced by Clubbed Thumb in partnership with True Love Productions.
West Coast premiere produced byBerkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, CA,Tony Taccone, Artistic Director/Susan Medak, Managing Director.
What the Constitution Means to Me had its Off-Broadway premiere in New York City at New York Theatre Workshop,Jim Nicola, Artistic Director, Jeremy Blocker, Managing Director, 2018

Photo credits: TJ Lancaster, Christina Short, and Jennifer Westfeldt in KCRep’s 2023 production of What the Constitution Means to Me. Photo by Don Ipock

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