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Celebrity Autobiography
The premise of Celebrity Autobiography, created by Eugene Pack, keeps the ball in the air and the audience humming. Actors dramatically read excerpts from various stars’ memoirs or samples of their poetry in this revue, emphasizing the unplanned comedic. The theme that heats up the production is that although they take themselves seriously, celebrities can appear ridiculous.
The more the celebrities mean to be revelatory, or philosophical, the more the humor spills out. And what makes various celebrities’ ridiculousness particularly noteworthy is their self-importance and need for self-aggrandizement.
A rotating cast of actors reads from the unwittingly funny memoirs. Many of the actors have appeared in comedic roles, and they have dead-on pacing and timing. Some, like Tony Shalhoub, Matthew Broderick, Brooke Adams, and Danny Burstein, rotate in and out. Others, like Mario Cantone, who apparently can’t resist doing impersonations, appear for more days of the run.
Self-satisfied celebrities
The celebrities who are sent up are so inherently self-satisfied, it’s as if their agents, wanting to add to their own bottom lines, have suggested that their clients’ “words of wisdom” be written down for the ages. After all, who doesn’t want to read or listen to the illuminated thoughts that Ryan Seacrest or Vanna White feel compelled to share?
The beauty of the production is that often the celebrities’ sage comments are anything but. Many of the quotes are pegged for belly laughs. Of course when the actor, or singer, or TV game show star, or TV host, or sports star wrote them, it was in all seriousness. Hence the quote advertising the production, “You can’t make this stuff up.”
A Long Run
The show has been running in New York since 2008. The following year it won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. Celebrity Autobiography was revisited in London’s West End and at the Sydney Opera House in Australia as well as other places.
Some of the show has been updated, but not the entire production. Broadway and movie aficionados will be familiar with Ethel Merman, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Carol Channing. A younger crowd may not.
Nevertheless, the portrayals work as caricatures, and the night I saw the production, Mario Cantone brought down the house as Carol Channing and as Liza Minelli. Suzanne Somers’ and Matthew McConaughey’s very tacky love poetry evoked gales of laughter, the McConaughey drawl putting it over the top.
Although there were missed opportunities in the sphere of political celebrities, the mashups related to real topics worked well.
Food, Music, Sports, Broadway
In one of the foody segments, Oprah, Neil Sedaka and Dolly Parton related their habits and diets. Dolly’s self-deprecation about her body was intentionally laugh-out-loud. Other sendups involved music legends (Celine Dion, Michael Bublé, Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, Cher) and sports/action figures (Tiger Woods, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sly Stallone) which actors honed with impressions that rocked.
In the “Broadway Babies” segment, Carol Channing groused about Barbra Streisand in the film version of Channing’s show Hello Dolly. I missed Andrea Martin as Ethel Merman, but Sandy (Jeff Hiller), the dog from Annie, showed up. Sandy gets multiple laughs about who has petted him (Lauren Bacall) and taken his picture (Andy Warhol). The audience appreciated when Sandy boasted, “Once I even growled and showed my teeth to Muhammad Ali, and the heavyweight champion of the world backed down!”
Is an intimate venue more inviting for laughter and fun?
It’s arguable whether the larger venue, where actors appear in a line facing the audience with just microphones and no sets, worked well. Certainly, reading and audience and pacing comedy appropriately is much easier in more intimate venues where the show has been staged in the past. But people will pay for much-needed laughs in this trying time. And maybe not including politicos to ridicule, as they are ubiquitously annoying everywhere, is a good thing after all.
Celebrity Autobiography is at the Shubert Theatre on 44th St. between 7th and 8th Avenues through June 21, 2026.
