Playwright Heidi Schreck’s highly impactful and timely memoir, What the Constitution Means to Me, winner of Best American play, and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, opens Max & Louie Productions upcoming 2023 theatrical season, running at The Marcelle Theatre, April 6-23^rd in St. Louis..

“When in the Course of human Events it becomes necessary to recover from the fatigue and grief that we have all experienced, Max & Louie Productions presents the opportunity to feel uplifted, to galvanize, and to explore just what the Constitution means to You,” said Stellie Siteman, Producing Artistic Director.

This boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans. Fifteen-year-old Heidi Schreck earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. What the Constitution Means to Me is inspired by the prompt she received on these tours: draw a personal connection between your life and the Constitution. Actor Michelle Hand brilliantly resurrects Schreck’s teenage and present self to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women in her family and the founding document that shaped their lives, digging into its beauty, aspirations, contradictions, and failures.

The cast includes Michelle Hand, Joel Moses, Riley Carter Adams, Aislyn Morrow, and Maahi Saini.

Nancy Bell Directs.

Critic’s Pick! “Brilliantly Crafted Show, Harrowing, Funny, and Humane, that accesses the political through the deeply personal. A Masterful Act of Storytelling.” – New York Magazine

What the Constitution Means to Me will run at the Marcelle Theatre, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive, Saint Louis, Missouri 63103. Free secured parking.

The dates of the production are April 6- April 23, 2023. Tickets are now on sale at maxandlouie.com or by phone at Metrotix (314) 534-1111.  Tickets are priced from $15-$50

Max & Louie Productions has received its Missouri ArtSafe certification. To ensure that we may create safely, present safely, and attend safely we pledge to Covid-19 Safety Protocols which patrons are encouraged to view at Max & Louie Productions’ website at www.maxandlouie.com

Actors/Director Bio’s and Headshots  

Michelle Hand* (Heidi) is delighted to work with this creative team to finally put the skills she honed as a middle-school debater in the Bellarmine Speech League to good use. More recent stage appearances include Mrs. Cratchit in A Christmas Carol at The Repertory Theater of St. Louis, Sugar in Tiny, Beautiful Things at Max & Louie Productions (St. Louis Theater Circle Award Nomination) and Mrs. Bennett in Pride and Prejudice at the Repertory Theater of St. Louis (St. Louis Theater Circle Award Nomination). She is so grateful for the many opportunities she has had in the span of her career, from co-founding the Orange Girls Theater Company, to appearing in the Off-Broadway premier of Day of the Dog, to collaborating with the great companies, the great actors, and the great theater artists of St. Louis in over 40 productions.  Thank you for your continued support of this community.  This one is for Basil.

*Member of Actors’ Equity

Joel Moses (Legionnaire) St. Louis credits include The Christians (West End Players), Bronte Sister House Party (SATE), Laughter on the 23rd Floor (New Jewish Theatre), The Zoo Story, and The Dumb Waiter (St. Louis Actors’ Studio). He spent several years with the Organic Theater Company in Chicago where favorite performances included Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Emilie: la Marquise du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight, The Diviners, and playing the title role in King Ubu.

Other Chicago credits include work with First Folio Theatre, Assassination Theater, 16th Street Theater, Theatre Y, and Stage 773. He received his MFA in Acting from Northern Illinois University and studied abroad at the Moscow Art Theatre. This is Joel’s first appearance for Max & Louie Productions!

Riley Carter Adams (Debater) is a 7th grader at John Burroughs School. When she was seven, Riley created her first YouTube vlog channel, Black and Girly with Miss Riley. She has performed in a plethora of youth and equity theatre productions on several stages with COCA, Gateway Center for Performing Arts, Kirkwood Youth Theatre, Ignite Theatre Company, Union Avenue Opera, The Black Rep, The Rep, and The Muny. In 2019, Riley made her television debut in a recurring role in a Showtime Original series entitled On Becoming a God in Central Florida, co-executive produced and starring Kirsten Dunst and executive produced by George Clooney. 

In 2020, she starred in the local Nine PBS sensation A New Holiday, directed by Brian Owens and co-written with Sophia Stephens.  Riley currently voices the character of the effortlessly brave, Nevaeh Campbell, in the animated series, Drawn In, a collaboration between nine PBS and Lion Forge animation. She was featured in The Muny’s 104th season casts of Camelot and The Color Purple and starred as Matilda in COCA’s summer mainstage production of Matilda the Musical and in the New Jewish Theatre’s World Premiere of The Bee Play, as Paris. Riley enjoys writing in her journals, drawing, reading, learning new vlogging techniques from her favorite YouTubers, and spending time with her family and friends.

Aislyn Morrow She/They (Debater) attends Grand Center Arts Academy and will graduate in May 2023. She has appeared in Godspell, as Morgan, Milk Like Sugar as Myrna Desmond and in She Kills Monsters as Lilith Morningstar/Lilly, at Grand Center Arts Academy and most recently, Our Town at the Sun Theatre all directed by Michael Musgrave-Perkins.

She has also appeared in A Year with Frog and Toad, as Lizard, Squirrel, and Mole, with Fly North Theatricals, directed by Colin Healy, and in Ranked- A New Musical, as Jacquie, at COCA, directed by Grace Austin. When she’s not performing in theatre or musical theatre, Aislyn enjoys being the cheer captain of Titans Cheer Team at Confluence Preparatory Academy.

Maahi Saini (Debater) attends MICDS and is in 8th grade. She has appeared in two MICDS plays Happiest Day in Moneyville USA and A Collection of Aesop’s Fables.  Maahi has multiple public speaking awards, most coming from a foundation called NSF (North South Foundation), where they are given a prompt one minute before they speak. “It’s called impromptu for a reason!” 

She enjoys playing volleyball and squash and watching every sport possible especially ice hockey and football. Maahi enjoys spending time with friends and creating and editing video content. Maahi has always had a passion for drama and is so grateful for this opportunity!

Nancy Bell (Director) is an award-winning actor, director, and playwright with a body of working spanning thirty years. Her plays Blow Winds, Remember Me, The World Begun, Good in Everything, Old Hearts Fresh, and The New World were produced at Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, where she served as Playwright-in-Residence. Elsewhere, her plays have been developed or produced in California, New York and elsewhere.

As a performer, she has worked at Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Old Globe Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Geffen Playhouse and dozens of others nationally. Among many other TV and film credits, she appeared on Star Trek Voyager and as Susan Bates on the long-running soap Guiding Light. 

As a director, she has worked at Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, the New Jewish Theatre, St. Louis Actors Studio, COCA, and elsewhere. Nancy is Associate Professor of Theatre at Saint Louis University. www.NancyEllenBell.com