Jennifer Westfeldt Will Lead WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME at Kansas City Repertory Theatre

Kansas City Repertory Theatre continues its 60th Anniversary 2023-24 season with the hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human Broadway production of What the Constitution  Means to Me, written by Heidi Schreck and directed by Amy Anders Corcoran, leading an all-female  identifying design and production team. Performances run October 24 through November 12, 2023, at  Copaken Stage. 

Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across  the United States. In this charming and inspiring 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. 

Kansas City Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Stuart Carden stated, “Never has constitutional law and  civic debate been made so electric, surprising, funny, and alive. What the Constitution Means to Me is  more than a play. It is an EXPERIENCE that will have you thinking about the foundation and future of our  democracy in new ways and inspire exhilarating conversations in the theatre and beyond. After a huge  success on Broadway and a Netflix special, we are so excited to share this vital and invigorating  theatrical experience with you.” 

Director Amy Anders Corcoran shared, ”What the Constitution Means to Me is a hilarious, personal,  touching, and honest look at one woman's ever-evolving history with the constitution. When I saw this  play (twice!) on Broadway, I couldn't get enough of the poignant truthfulness and connection I felt to  Heidi and her story. In a time of many issues trying to tear us apart, and the media often highlighting  our differences, this play joins us with the idea that the constitution can actually be for all of us and is  indeed worth fighting for. “ She continued, ”The hopefulness in Heidi's script, placed so well with the  youthfulness of the young actors, gives me hope that our divide can be lessened, if we all keep telling  our stories to each other. I feel so lucky to tell this story right now, especially with the incredible Jennifer  Westfeldt and this wonderful company, and I am so excited to laugh and feel right alongside the  audience each night. Holding community and space is the best of what theatre can offer, and this play  does that over and over.” 

Bios:

HEIDI SCHRECK (playwright) 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, Kansas City Repertory Theatre 60th Anniversary 2023-24 Season continues with What the Constitution Means to Me
Oct. 24 - Nov. 12 at Copaken Stage 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) 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

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) KCRep: debut. Educational: Not Medea, The SpongeBob Musical, Much Ado About Nothing, No Exit, Good Kids (Theatre Northwest at 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.

The design and production team for What the Constitution Means to Me includes ASHTON BOTTS (Dramaturg), JZ CASTING (Casting Agency), AMANDA CLARK (Associate Director), AMY ANDERS CORCORAN (Director), MEGAN CULLEY (Sound Design), RANA ESFANDIARY (Scenic Design), ERICA LAUREN MAHOLMES (Lighting Design), ARWEN J. WHITE (Costume Design), NICOLE WIEGERT (Production Stage Manager). Understudy is HILLARY CLEMENS (US Heidi).

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