46 | DECEMBER 2 • 2021 

ARTS&LIFE
THEATER

W

hen Rachel 
Sussman comes 
home to visit her 
family in December, the first 
stop on her agenda is the 
Fisher Theatre. She’ll attend 
performances of What the 
Constitution Means to Me, 
which runs from Dec. 14, 
2021-Jan. 2, 2022. Sussman 
is a co-producer of the Tony 
Award-nominated play and 
Pulitzer Prize finalist.
“I’m really excited that the 
show that I love so much is 
coming to my hometown 
and that Michigan audiences 
will get to experience it,” says 
Sussman, who was raised in 
Bloomfield Township. “This 
is going to be the first time 
that I am seeing a show that 
I co-produced at the Fisher 
Theatre where I saw shows 
growing up.”
Written by Heidi Schreck, 
What the Constitution Means 
to Me starred Schreck on 
Broadway and has Schreck 
telling the story of her 
15-year-old self who traveled 
across the country to com-
pete in Constitutional debate 
competitions and win money 
to pay for her college tuition. 
Having given birth to twin 
girls last year, Schreck will 
not reprise her role on the 
national tour. Cassie Beck 
(I Know What You Did Last 

Summer and The Humans 
on Broadway) will take on 
the comedic and poignant 
role that traces how the 
Constitution shaped the lives 
of four generations of women 
and the next generation of 

Americans.
Sussman first saw a New 
York Theatre Workshop 
production of What the 
Constitution Means to Me in 
the fall of 2018. 
“I have a very distinct 

memory of that day because I 
watched the Brett Kavanaugh 
[Supreme Court confir-
mation] hearings and was 
understanding his abuse and 
treatment of women and 
hearing Christine Ford testify. 
I went to the play that night, 
and I remember how painful-
ly resonant it felt. The story 
is so beautifully personal that 
it’s universal. I left the theater 
feeling so overwhelmed. It 
stayed with me in a powerful 
way,” Sussman said.
When she heard that What 
the Constitution Means to Me 
was going to Broadway, she 
called the three lead pro-
ducers, Aaron Glick, Diana 
DiMenna and Matt Ross, and 
said that she wanted to be a 
co-producer.
“I just knew that if I wasn’t 
a part of it, I would regret it,” 
says Sussman, who became a 
co-producer along with her 
partners JJ Maley and Cori 
Stolbun.
Sussman became friends 
with Glick when she 
interned at 321 Theatrical 
Management the summer of 
2011, just prior to her senior 
year at NYU Tisch School of 
the Arts. Glick was working 
as a Broadway producer in 
the same building at Stone 
Productions, which over-
sees Wicked, The 25th Annual 

Rachel Sussman and Aaron Glick are Tony Award nominees and producers 
for What the Constitution Means to Me.

A Homecoming for 
Hometown Producer

JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER

What the Constitution Means to Me producers (from left) Diana 
DiMenna, Aaron Glick and Rachel Sussman at the 2019 Tony Awards.

