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Maria Dizzia
Maria Dizzia

Maria Dizzia to Lead What the Constitution Means to Me on Tour

The national tour of Heidi Schreck’s Tony-nominated play What the Constitution Means to Me will feature a special guest star for its first two stops. Maria Dizzia, Tony nominee for In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) and Polly Harper on TV’s Orange is the New Black, will perform the lead role in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum (January 12 through February 16, 2020) and in Chicago at the Broadway Playhouse (March 4 through April 12, 2020). Additional cities and new casting for the remainder of the tour will be announced this winter.

“I have loved and admired Maria for many years and I consider it a huge gift to have an actor of her tremendous talent giving new life to this play,” said Heidi Schreck. “I’m thrilled to be bringing Constitution to audiences across the country with this brilliant and generous artist at the helm.”

Joining Dizzia will be original Broadway cast members Mike Iveson and Rosdely Ciprian, who will reprise their roles in both Los Angeles and Chicago. The tour will be directed by Oliver Butler who helmed the Broadway berth of What the Constitution Means to Me.

“I learned so much as a woman and a citizen from Constitution and am so excited to be a part of it,” said Maria Dizzia. “I can’t wait to work with Heidi.”

“Playwright Heidi Schreck’s boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of American women. 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 dictated their rights and citizenship.”

Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of MusicalsThe Disney Song Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. His forthcoming book, Sitcommentary: The Television Comedies That Changed America, will hit the shelves in October, 2019. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.