The national tour of What the Constitution Means to Me, Heidi Schreck’s Tony Award-nominated Pulitzer Prize finalist play, directed by Oliver Butler, will relaunch this fall at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, MN on September 30, 2021, starring Cassie Beck in the leading role.
Beck assumes the role from Maria Dizzia, who performed engagements of the play in Los Angeles and Chicago, prior to the shutdown of the touring Broadway industry in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional casting for the tour will be announced at a later date.
“It’s exhilarating to be returning to theaters again and I can’t wait to welcome audiences back to What the Constitution Means to Me,” said Heidi Schreck. “Cassie Beck is a brilliant actor and human being and I am thrilled audiences across America will have the opportunity to experience Constitution with her on stage. I’m also grateful to everyone who worked so hard this past year to make the return of this tour possible.”
“I have been waiting to play this role for more than 14 months! I am thrilled to finally get to bring this incredible piece of theatre to life on stage every night,” said Cassie Beck. “It is an honor to share Heidi’s story with audiences across the country, and I can’t wait to get to work!
What the Constitution Means to Me will run September 30–October 24 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis before returning to Chicago October 26 – November 21, 2021 at the Broadway Playhouse. The tour continues with premieres in Princeton, NJ (McCarter Theatre Center, December 7-12, 2021), Detroit (Fisher Theatre, December 14, 2021- January 2, 2022), Dallas (Winspear Opera House, January 4-9, 2022), Hartford (The Bushnell, January 26-30, 2022), Charlotte (Knight Theatre, February 15-20, 2022) Boston (Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, February 22 – March 20, 2022) and Nashville (TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater, March 29 – April 3, 2022). Additional stops for the tour will continued to be announced throughout the summer and fall. For a complete list of tour stops, please visit constitutionbroadway.com.
Playwright Heidi Schreck’s boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans. 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 in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.
Schreck’s timely and galvanizing play, directed by Oliver Butler, became a sensation off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 2018 before transferring to Broadway in 2019 and receiving two Tony Award® nominations among countless other accolades. The New York Times hailed it as “not just the best play on Broadway, but also the most important.”
Initially announced for a 12-week engagement on Broadway, What the Constitution Means to Me was extended twice and fully recouped in its Broadway engagement, shattering box office records at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York for a total run of 24 weeks. What the Constitution Means to Me began previews on March 14, 2019 and played its final Broadway performance on August 24, 2019. Following Broadway, What the Constitution Means to Me played a record-breaking limited engagement run at the Eisenhower Theater at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as well as two sit down engagements in Los Angeles and Chicago before halting performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schreck’s performance on Broadway was captured and a streaming version of the play released on October 16, 2020 on Amazon Prime. The streaming event was lauded by critics and viewers alike and is “certified fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes with a rating of 97%. You can stream the performance by clicking here.
What the Constitution Means to Me features scenic design by Rachel Hauck (Hadestown), costume design by Michael Krass (Hadestown), lighting design by Jen Schriever (Eclipsed), and sound design by Sinan Refik Zafar (Hamlet). The casting director is Taylor Williams and production stage manager is Nicole Olson.
What the Constitution Means to Me was commissioned by True Love Productions. This production originated as part of Summerworks 2017, produced by Clubbed Thumb in partnership with True Love Productions.
The national tour of What the Constitution Means to Me is produced by Diana DiMenna, Aaron Glick, Matt Ross, and Level Forward & Eva Price.
CASSIE BECK (Heidi) plays series regular Courtney Thacker on the anticipated upcoming series reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer for Amazon Prime. Broadway credits include the recent revival of The Rose Tattoo, original cast member of The Humans (Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, LA/London), Picnic and The Norman Conquests. Off Broadway she’s developed, created and performed premiere leading roles at Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theatre, Roundabout Theatre, Ars Nova, Classic Stage Company the Women’s Project and others. She’s done the same regionally, bringing her work to stages all across the country including The Ahmanson, South Coast Rep, The Huntington, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville – Humana Festival, Long Wharf Theatre (a world premiere by Heidi Schreck) and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. During the pandemic, she recurred on NBC/Peacock’s original sitcom “Connecting”. Additional tv guest star appearances include “Pose” for FX, HBO’s “High Maintenance,” CBS’s “Elementary,” and “Chicago Med” on NBC. Cassie appears opposite Mark Wahlberg in the feature film “Joe Bell,” coming to theaters soon. @cassiebeckster