CONCORD THEATRICALS ACQUIRES LICENSING RIGHTS FOR “WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME”
Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Aaron Meier
rick@omdkc.com / aaron@omdkc.com
212 695 7400
Concord Theatricals Contact:
Imogen Lloyd Webber
press.theatricals@concord.com
212 598 2265
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON THURSDAY, JULY 15 AT 11 AM ET, PLEASE
CONCORD THEATRICALS
ACQUIRES LICENSING RIGHTS
FOR
“WHAT THE CONSTITUTION
MEANS TO ME”
New York, NY (July 15, 2021) – Concord Theatricals is honored to announce that it has secured exclusive worldwide stage licensing rights to Heidi Schreck’s Tony Award-nominated play and Pulitzer Prize finalist What the Constitution Means to Me for its Samuel French imprint. A release timeline will be announced at a later date. For more information, visit concordsho.ws/PerformConstitution.
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“I am thrilled that What The Constitution Means to Me will be available for licensing through Concord Theatricals,” said playwright Heidi Schreck. “I have collaborated with the same wonderful team there since they published my first play (under the Samuel French imprint) many years ago. I adore them and couldn’t be happier that we are reuniting to share this play with theaters across the world.”
“Samuel French has a long history in publishing Heidi’s work, and we believe passionately in her visionary writing. We are proud to represent Constitution, a beautifully crafted, human story whose unifying message has grown more essential after this year of isolation and social change,” said Amy Rose Marsh, Vice President of Acquisitions and Artistic Development (North America) at Concord Theatricals. “The play’s themes of civil engagement, community, and hope will surely resonate with all theater lovers.”
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.
The national tour of What the Constitution Means to Me will resume September of 2021. What the Constitution Means to Me will run September 30–October 24 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. The tour continues with previously announced premieres in 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). For a complete list of tour stops, please visit www.constitutionbroadway.com.
Schreck’s performance on Broadway was captured by director Marielle Heller and a streaming version of the play was 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%.
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.
BIOGRAPHIES
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, 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. www.concordtheatricals.com
Heidi Schreck is a writer and performer living in Brooklyn. What The Constitution Means to Me was recently named a Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the Obie Award and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play. Schreck also received two Tony Award nominations for What the Constitution Means to Me, for Best Play and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play, and received the 2019 Benjamin Hadley Danks Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters. Her play Grand Concourse, which debuted at Playwrights Horizons and Steppenwolf Theatres in 2014–2015, won the Stacey Mindich Lilly Award in 2015 and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Screenwriting credits include I Love Dick, Billions and Nurse Jackie. Schreck has also taught playwriting and screenwriting at NYU, Columbia, Kenyon College, and Primary Stages. She is the recipient of three Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award and a Theatre World Award. She is the recipient of the Horton Foote Playwriting Award and the Hull-Warriner Award from the Dramatists Guild.
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