The curtain goes up July 3 on the debut season of ACK Theatre Company, Nantucket Performing Arts Center’s new professional theater company in residence, with What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck.
Nantucket Performing Arts Center (NPAC) is Nantucket’s newest destination for the arts. The nonprofit acquired the theater building at 5 North Water Street earlier this year and is transforming it into a year-round hub for performance, artistic collaboration, and community gatherings. “NPAC is preparing to raise the curtain on a new era for the performing arts on Nantucket,” said Executive Director Drew Kowalkowski, who brings 15 years of experience in Broadway and nonprofit leadership and who serves as producer for the theater company.
ACK Theatre Company builds on Nantucket’s reputation as a summer home for great theatre by creating productions that entertain, inspire, and reflect the power of live performance. “ACK Theatre Company is the perfect way to launch this next chapter—serving our community with exceptional theatre and collaboration across the island’s vibrant arts scene,” said Kowalkowski.
Playwright Heidi Schreck’s boundary-breaking play, What the Constitution Means to Me, breathes new life into the U.S.Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans. As a teenager, Schreck paid for college by winning constitutional debate competitions across the country. In this powerful and deeply personal piece, she steps into the role of her 15-year-old self to reexamine the founding document—not as an abstract ideal, but as something that has shaped and sometimes failed women in her family across four generations. Blending memoir, history, and civic dialogue, the play invites audiences to consider how the Constitution affects our lives. Originally performed by Schreck herself, the play was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and ran for over 200 performances on Broadway.
In NPAC’s production, acclaimed actor Nina Hellman takes on the role of Heidi, bringing emotional depth and personal resonance to the piece. Hellman’s stage credits include “Greater Clements” at Lincoln Center Theater and an Obie Award-winning performance in “Trouble in Paradise,” as well as screen roles in “The Blacklist,” “Nurse Jackie,” and “Wet Hot American Summer.”
Hellman is joined by her husband, Tony-nominated actor Jeremy Shamos, seen in Broadway’s “Clybourne Park” and “Noises Off” and television’s “Better Call Saul,” “The Gilded Age,” and “Only Murders in the Building.” Hellman and Shamos have a home in ‘Sconset and have performed on Nantucket together in White Heron Theatre Company’s “Outside Mullingar” and “Private Lives.”
A third cast member, a local teenager, will play the role of the Debater, selected from recent youth auditions.
“This is a really important play for our generation, and I’m excited to bring it to my community on Nantucket,” said Hellman.
Purchase tickets or become a member at NantucketPerformingArts.org. Memberships in NPAC convey special perks, including free food and beverages at performances, early access to tickets and premium seating, and invitations to members-only events.
NPAC also plans to produce and present a wide range of events, spanning the breadth of the performing arts and partnering with other Nantucket arts organizations, like this week’s Nantucket Film Festival and the Stand up & Learn Kids’ Comedy Showcase on July 11.
Next week, Nantucket Performing Arts Center will present A Night for Swifties, a new concert event celebrating the music of Taylor Swift, for five performances only on July 9, 10, and 11. The concert production features a company of Broadway vocalists and musicians, joined by special guest performers from the Nantucket community.
The concert is conceived, arranged, and directed by Drew Wutke, a New Yorkbased music director, pianist, and producer whose wide-ranging credits include work with Tony Award winner André De Shields, Broadway stars Kelli O’Hara and Tituss Burgess, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael R. Jackson. Wutke served as music director for MCC Theater’s celebrated Miscast Gala for several seasons and has worked extensively in theatre, cabaret, and television. “A Night for Swifties” was originally produced for Westport Country Playhouse, where it quickly sold out to enthusiastic Swifties of all ages.
“A Night for Swifties” will feature reimagined arrangements of songs from across Swift’s nearly two-decade career, including selections from albums such as Fearless, 1989, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, and Midnights. The concert aims to reflect the diversity and emotional depth of Swift’s songwriting, performed by a cast drawn from both stage and screen.
“We’re excited to bring something joyful and contemporary to NPAC this summer,” said NPAC Executive Director Drew Kowalkowski. “Taylor Swift’s music has had a profound cultural impact, and this concert allows us to explore that through the lens of live performance and open our space to a wider variety of performances, beyond the plays we have slated for our inaugural summer.”
Tickets are selling fast at NantucketPerformingArts.org or by calling NPAC at 508-680-0003.
On August 1, Theatre People, or The Angel Next Door by Paul Slade Smith opens, directed by Nantucket favorite Mark Shanahan. Set in a glamorous Newport mansion in 1948, this fast-paced screwball comedy blends romantic chaos and backstage antics with classic flair. Featuring a weekend of misadventures among two scheming playwrights, a pair of unruly actors, a novice novelist, and a no-nonsense housekeeper, Theatre People is a love letter to the glorious madness of the stage.
They sure don’t make them like ‘Theatre People’ anymore!” says Shanahan. “It’s fast, funny, and full of heart—just what summer on Nantucket calls for.”
