Jeff Hiller (Photo: Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)
Celebrity Autobiography
By Deirdre Donovan on June 6, 2026
On Broadway, where celebrity casting is often used to sell a show, Celebrity Autobiography turns the concept inside out. This long-running comedy sensation invites a rotating roster of stars from stage, screen, sports, and politics to perform selections from other celebrities’ unintentionally hilarious memoirs, creating an evening where every performance—and every laugh—is a surprise.
Inspired by Vanna White’s memoir, co-creators/directors/performers Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel built an entire theatrical enterprise around the comic possibilities lurking in celebrity autobiographies. What might have seemed a one-joke premise has instead proved remarkably durable, fueled by a steady supply of celebrity self-revelations and performers clever enough to expose their inadvertent humor.
Although one can go to the official website to see who will take the stage for any given performance, surprise guests can pop in—and often do. On the evening I attended, the lineup included Scott Adsit, Jeff Hiller, Jackie Hoffman, Ben Mankiewicz, Mario Cantone, Andrea Martin, Nia Vardalos, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Kenan Thompson, and Bruce Vilanch. It proved an especially winning ensemble, blending comic timing, charisma, and a palpable camaraderie that energized the audience from the outset.
Pack and Reyfel have assembled a gallery of authors whose memoirs prove fertile ground for comedy. The roster ranges from entertainment figures such as David Hasselhoff, White, Dolly Parton, Cher, Céline Dion, Michael Bublé, Miley Cyrus, and Beyoncé to media personalities and athletes including Geraldo Rivera, Oprah Winfrey, Ryan Seacrest, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, and Joe Namath. The show also finds laughs in more unexpected sources, from Sandy, the canine star of Annie, to the tangled saga of Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, and Eddie Fisher. While the selections span several generations of celebrity culture, the material largely draws from personalities who achieved fame before the rise of today’s influencer-driven landscape.
One might wonder how an evening of celebrities reading from other celebrities’ autobiographies can generate sustained laughter. The answer lies in the performers’ delivery. Rather than presenting the excerpts as straightforward readings, the cast mines them for every ounce of comedy, drawing on impeccable timing, vocal inflection, and larger-than-life theatricality.
A prime example was Hiller’s reading from White’s 1987 autobiography. Recounting how White beat out 200 hopefuls to become the letter-turner on Wheel of Fortune, Hiller deftly highlighted the memoir’s blend of sincerity and self-awareness. His biggest laugh came when, as White, he matter-of-factly observed that her position was not “the most intellectually challenging job in the world; few jobs are.” By allowing the line a moment to linger, Hiller gave the audience ample time to savor its unplanned humor.
Jackie Hoffman (Photo: Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)
If Hiller’s approach was warmly understated, Hoffman delivered her material with gleeful ferocity. Reading from Oprah’s autobiography, Hoffman paired a deadpan delivery with wildly expressive facial reactions, gradually escalating her performance from conversational intimacy to near-operatic proclamation. Her reading reached a comic peak when, as Oprah, she reflected on examining herself in a full-length mirror “from the top of my ponytailed head down to the bunion feet I inherited from my father” before arriving at an emphatic mantra of gratitude: “Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!!!” In Hoffman’s hands, the passage became a master class in comic exaggeration.
Rather than presenting the memoirs as a random assortment of celebrity recollections, the show loosely organizes them around themes such as food, sports, diva rivalries, and even a poetry corner featuring earnest, if not entirely accomplished, verses by Matthew McConaughey and Suzanne Somers. Cantone proved one of the evening’s comic standouts, appearing in multiple segments. Early on, he tackled Arnold Schwarzenegger’s memoir with a healthy dose of muscle-flexing bravado before returning for a diva-themed mash-up in which he delivered passages from Channing’s Just Lucky! in a pitch-perfect imitation of her gravelly voice. One of the evening’s biggest laughs came when Cantone revealed Channing’s lingering resentment toward Barbra Streisand: “My opinion of Streisand is completely warped. What opinion would you have if someone… kidnapped your baby? My baby was Hello, Dolly! Her movie of Dolly was the biggest flop Twentieth Century Fox ever had. There! I said it.”
Hiller, meanwhile, occupied a category all his own when he took up the memoir of Sandy, the canine star of Annie. If name-dropping is generally frowned upon in theatrical circles, Sandy elevates it to an art form, proudly cataloging the celebrities who visited his dressing room and showered him with affection. With impeccable seriousness, Hiller recited the dog’s roll call of admirers: “Otto Preminger, Tony Randall, Leslie Uggams, Dick Van Dyke, Dinah Shore, Robert Wagner, have fondled my ears.” As if that résumé were not impressive enough, Sandy continued boasting that he had been petted by Lauren Bacall, Jean Stapleton, and Barbra Streisand and had even confronted a boxing legend: “Once I even growled and showed my teeth to Muhammad Ali, and the heavyweight champion of the world backed down!”
Nia Vardalos (Photo: Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)
What makes Celebrity Autobiography so consistently entertaining is that the laughs never come at the expense of the celebrities alone. Rather, they arise from the gulf between how public figures see themselves and how their words sound when filtered through the voices of gifted performers. Pack and Reyfel have created a theatrical alchemy that transforms memoir into comedy, self-promotion into self-parody, and celebrity culture into a source of communal laughter. Judging from the audience’s response at the Shubert Theatre, the formula remains as fresh and effective as ever.
At the Shubert Theatre
225 W. 44th St., Midtown
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission
Currently scheduled through August 16, 2026
