Overview
- Celebrity Autobiography, which opened Monday, May 18 at the Shubert Theatre, is playing a limited Broadway engagement that features a different mix of celebrity readers each night.
- Opening-night readers included Matthew Broderick alongside Scott Adsit, Mario Cantone, Andrea Martin, Kenan Thompson, Rita Wilson and others, and producers have announced further rotating debuts such as Katie Couric and Anthony Anderson.
- Early reviews are mixed, praising individual performances and moments of sharp mimicry but calling the 90-minute, no-intermission staging uneven and often too small in comic scope for a full Broadway house.
- Producers are using a range of commercial tactics to widen access and drive interest, including ticket bands reported from about $49 to $329, digital lotteries and rush options, and unannounced special guests on many nights.
- The Broadway transfer builds on the show’s Off-Broadway and international pedigree, including a 2009 Drama Desk award, and its small-venue origin helps explain why critics question whether the format scales to a major Main Stem theater.