What the Constitution Means to Me

Roy Steinberg*+ (Director) has directed classical, contemporary, and world premiere plays across the United States. In New York, he directed Ann Jackson, Kim Hunter, and Alvin Epstein in The Madwoman of Chaillot at the Neighborhood Playhouse and worked with Lynn Cohen and Farley Granger on The Marriage Fool at Circle Repertory Company. His production of Othello ran at the Intar Theatre, and he directed Joan Copeland in Second Summer for the Colleagues Theatre Company. Steinberg served as Artistic Director for Theatre Matrix in New York and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, and directed bilingual touring productions of Moliere’s The Miser and The Bourgeois Gentleman.

He has also directed college productions nationwide, including American Buffalo, Our Town, The Importance of Being Earnest, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In film and television, Steinberg has directed and produced Guiding Light, One Life To Live, Days Of Our Lives, Forensic Files, and Scandalous Art, earning four Emmy nominations. His work with Jo-Beth Williams on Life In General won five Spirit Awards. At Cape May Stage, Steinberg has directed numerous productions, including Souvenir, Moon Over Buffalo, Blithe Spirit, How to Make a Rope Swing, Say Goodnight Gracie, Visiting Mr. Green, Proof, Class, Steel Magnolias, The Understudy, I Hate Hamlet, Boeing Boeing, Happy Days, Freud’s Last Session, The Santaland Diaries, The Woolgatherer, Mistakes Were Made, This Wonderful Life, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Disgraced, Buyer and Cellar, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, The Gin Game, Outside Mullingar, The Ultimate Christmas Show, Chapter Two, The Shuck, An Actor’s Carol, Heisenberg, Sylvia, Sidekicked, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Double Play, America’s Sexiest Couple, The Lifespan of a Fact, One Christmas Carol, Shirley Valentine, Art, The Garbologists, A Tuna Christmas, Becoming Dr. Ruth, Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt 2B, Stones in His Pockets, The Gift of the Magi, Vanities, Sexy Laundry, & Let’s Catch Santa.

Steinberg holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and serves as the Producing Artistic Director at Cape May Stage. His proudest production is his daughter, Alexa Catherine.

Roy Steinberg, Producing Artistic Director

This show is sponsored by La Mer Beachfront Resort.

Producers for this show include: 

Lisa & John Boecker, W.J. “Brad” Bradhering, Matt Brown & Patti Schuhl, Tom & Sue Carroll, Ronnie & Barry Cohen, Larry & Miriam Hirsch, Joan & Jack Dempsey, Grete & Martyn Greenacre, Ken & Elaine Kirby, Kit Marlowe & BJ Wagner-Marlowe, Matt & Rose McElwee, David Green & Christine Petrik, Drs. Chris & Rose Traficante, Kathleen & Tom Wilkinson, and Marvin & Lee Zektzer.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of becoming a member of our exclusive Producer’s Circle, click here.

Click here to watch the official casting video for this show. 

Amanda Baxter* (Heidi Schreck)

Amanda is delighted to be back at Cape May Stage, where she was last seen as Irene Adler/Mrs. Hudson/Mrs. Drebber in Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B . Off-Broadway/New York: Stupid F**king Bird (u/s Emma), And Away We Go (u/s various), Major Barbara (u/s Lady Britomart), You Never Can Tell (u/sMrs. Clandon), Pearl Theater Company; Three Sisters (Masha), Modern Theatre Project; The Seagull (Masha), The Taming of the Shrew (Katherine), Hudson Classical; The Half-Life of Marie Curie (Marie Curie), Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York. Selected regional: Chess (Florence), White Plains Performing Arts Center, Othello (Desdemona), Southwest Shakespeare Company. London: Hamlet (Hamlet), LAMDA (dir. Michael Attenborough). Film: Credit Queen (Marigold, Brite LiteFilms), He Made His Bed , Pestle . Education: London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (MA, Classical Acting), Moscow Art Theatre School, Susan Batson Studio. Gratitude to Roy for the opportunity to be a part of this timely and very important play. www.amanda-baxter.com

Ronald Bagden* (Legionnaire)

Ronald Bagden: trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London for three years. B’way: Amadeus; Christmas Carol; Stanley. National Tour: Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast. Off-B’way includes: three productions with David Greenspan at the Public Theater; My Night With Reg (The New Group); Dorothy Parker’s Ladies of the Corridor (Peccadillo Theatre Co.); Mimi Le Duck w/Eartha Kitt (New World Stages). Regional includes: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus (Berkshire Theatre Festival); The Last Schwartz (Florida Studio Theatre); title role in Final Descent of Edgar Allan Poe (Cleveland Playhouse); Taking Steps and Twelfth Night (Delaware Theatre Co.); title role in Hauptmann (Stageworks/Summit); Three Postcards (Portland Stage Co.). Film/TV: Reckless; Pictures of Baby Jane Doe; Down Under; As the World Turns; Another World; Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Ronald Bagden has appeared on Broadway in Amadeus, Stanley and Christmas Carol. He did the National Tour of Beauty & The Beast and played all over New York City at Joe’s Pub, New World Stages, Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons and The Women’s Project. Regional work includes Berkshire Theatre Festival, Florida Studio Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, Portland Stage Company and Delaware Theater Company. He has played in feature films and network TV in Reckless, Picture of Baby Jane Doe, As the World Turns and Late Night with Conan O”Brien. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London for three years.

Willow Ruiz (Debater)

Willow Ruiz is a 14-year-old eighth grader with a passion for acting, especially musicals. She began performing at age five and has appeared in Finding Nemo (Nemo) with Panther Playhouse and as Plankton in SpongeBob SquarePants with Ocean City Theater Company. Additional credits include Annie, Matilda, High School Musical, Wing It (Harriet), and The Little Mermaid (Flounder). Willow is active in her school band, marching band, National Junior Honor Society, Student Council, and Youth Ministry. What the Constitution Means to Me is her first professional production. She thanks her family, directors, and friends for their support.

“What the Constitution Means to Me” is written by Heidi Schreck.

Heidi Schreck 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. 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. Most recently, she created a new translation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya for the Broadway production at Lincoln Center. Screenwriting credits include I Love Dick, Billions, Nurse Jackie and Dispatches from Elsewhere. 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.

What the Constitution Means to Me Program 2026 – Final