(Celebrity Autobiography on Broadway. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.)

by Tim Leininger

NEW YORK — One of the problems of being a critic is sometimes a show isn’t getting the love it deserves and closes up shop just as you’re getting to see it. Such was my fate with Celebrity Autobiography: We Couldn’t Make This Stuff Up!, which closed the day I was in attendance at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre at 225 W. 44^th St. This is a shame, because I had a wonderful time at this delightfully hilarious take on celebrity culture.

            Created by Eugene Pack, and developed and directed by Pack and Dayle Reyfel, the show has had a long life, having won a Drama Desk award back in 2009. So, the question is why did this funny little show fail when it reached Broadway?

(Christopher Jackson, Rita Wilson, and Nia Vardalos in Celebrity Autobiography on Broadway. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.)

            The concept of Celebrity Autobiography is simple, a rotating list of celebrities from Paula Abdul to Alan Zweibel and everyone else in between come together to read excerpts of autobiographies of other celebrities. Each performance has a different collection of celebrities, reading different autobiographies. For example, the matinee I was in attendance for had Danny Burstein (Moulin Rouge!, Fiddler on the Roof, Follies) open the show reading David Hasselhoff’s autobiography Don’t Hassel the Hoff: The Autobiography, in which Burstein reads a section from the book where Hasselhoff writes about his time on Broadway in Jekyll & Hyde. On the surface it sounds pretty uninteresting, but first, Hasselhoff — and the other authors read the day I was in attendance — aren’t the best writers. Second, the sections read from the autobiographies are some of the most self-important egotistical schlock. The Hasselhoff excerpt, for example, brags about how he gruelled through performing in Jekyll & Hyde for 72 performances — the equivalent of a little over two months — a paltry number for those in the know of how long Broadway stars may perform in a show. He also used language like “opening night,” when he wasn’t in the opening night cast. Robert Cuccioli had that honor. All this is anchored by Burstein’s comic flair as he dramatically reads the text, amplifying the humor of what is being read. It’s smart, satirical comedy, taking jabs at their colleagues; not in a mean way, but more of a, “come on, really?” way.

            Other performers the day I was in attendance included Peck, Reyfel, Zweibel, Lewis Black, Kathy Griffin, Mario Cantone, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, and Daphne Rubin-Vega. Highlights included Black reading excerpts from Mark Whalberg’s macho-laced autobiography Marky Mark, Rodriguez-Kritzer reading an excerpt from Celine Dion’s autobiography My Story, My Dream, about swimming with a manatee, and several mashup readings of celebrities who shared the same experience together, like reading Debbie Reynolds’, Elizabeth Taylor’s, and Eddie Fisher’s autobiographies in tandem as they all describe the tumultuous time when Taylor had an affair with Fisher while he was still married to Reynolds. Another mashup is the reading of Burt Reynolds’ and Loni Anderson’s autobiographies describing their very different views on their meeting and marriage.

(Bobby Moynihan and Rita Wilson in Celebrity Autobiography on Broadway. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.)

            The concept of it all is comic genius, and it works. The audience in attendance with me ate it up. I think the problem is that this show wasn’t built for a Broadway house. This would feel far more comfortable in a comedy club or a reasonably sized off-Broadway space. Also, the show opened at the start of a new Broadway season, when numbers are traditionally low, and those who are going to shows are trying to get into the Tony Award winners from the previous season.

            It’s all very disappointing, because the show is hysterical. It’s like seeing a celebrity roast where the writers for the roast are the celebrities getting roasted. All the performers have to do is give the text some life and character. Whatever future this show has; I encourage people to check it out wherever it may open next.

PRODUCTION:

Created by Eugene Pack; Developed & Directed by Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel; Scenic & Costume Design: Derek McLane; Lighting Design: Ed McCarthy; Sound Design: Palmer Hefferan; Marketing Director: Victoria Cairl; Public Relations: DKC/O&M; Partnerships: Table7 Strategy; Social Media: And That’s Strategy, Katharine Quinn; Advertising & Marketing: Arthouse; General Manager: Foundation Theatrical, Erich Jungwirth; Company Manager: Michael Quadrino; Ticketing: Broadwai, Micah Hollingworth; Production Stage Manager: James Fitzsimmons; Production Manager: Juniper Street Productions, Inc.

CAST (the cast was rotating with different people performing different shows)

Paula Abdul, Brooke Adams, Pamela Adlon, Scott Adsit, Jason Alexander, Anthony Anderson, Lewis Black, Christie Brinkley, Matthew Broderick, Danny Burstein, Mario Cantone, Bob Costas, Katie Couric, Mikey Day, Tate Donovan, Alexander Dreymon, Griffin Dunne, Chloe Fineman, Will Forte, Gina Gershon, Kathy Griffin, Jeff Hiller, Jackie Hoffman, Christopher Jackson, Ken Jeong, Gayle King, Stewart Lane, Robert Sean Leonard, Susan Lucci, Ralph Macchio, Ben Mankiewicz, Andrea Martin, Donna McKechnie, Eric MicCormack, Bobby Moynihan, Laraine Newman, Oscar Nuñez, Cheri Oteri, Eugene Pack, Tiler Peck, Billy Porter, Dayle Reyfel, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Ray Romano, Phil Rosenthal, Tony Shalhoub, Molly Shannon, Sherri Shepherd, Kenan Thompson, Jennifer Tilly, Nia Vardalos, Bruce Vilanch, Allison Williams, Rita Wilson, Alan Zweibel