Celebrity Autobiography was first road-tested in 1998 at performance spaces in Los Angeles. It was created by Eugene Pack, an Emmy-nominated writer who developed it with Dayle Reyfel. The concept is simple and sly: stars read passages from other stars’ memoirs with dramatic, scene-chewing flair.

Celebrity Autobiography made its Off-Broadway debut with the subtitle "In Their Own Words" in February 2008 at the Triad Theatre for 12 performances, which led to a return that September for an open-ended, multi-year run. In 2009, the show won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, and it's since been seen across the U.S. and in London and Sydney.

Celebrity Autobiography was first seen on Broadway about eight years ago at the Marquis Theatre. The show went up on three Monday nights — November 26, December 10, and December 17 — when the venue’s main occupant, The Illusionists - Magic of the Holidays, didn’t have a performance.

The 2026 production, though, marks Celebrity Autobiography's official, full-length Broadway debut.

Celebrity Autobiography features a rotating cast of stars throughout its 2026 Broadway residency. The number is apt to change since new performers are continually being announced, and surprise guests will also pop in from time to time. Some perform for a few weeks at a time, while others only appear for a few nights.

The performance calendar on New York Theatre Guide's Celebrity Autobiography page lists which stars will appear at each show.

Though Celebrity Autobiography likely won't be eligible for Tony Awards contention, some of its star readers have that cred already. Jason Alexander, Matthew Broderick, Danny Burstein, Stewart Lane, Robert Sean Leonard, Andrea Martin, Donna McKechnie, Billy Porter, and Tony Shalhoub are all Tony winners, while Tony nominees include Christopher Jackson and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer.

Celebrity Autobiography’s cast members are multiplatform talents. Work in primetime, daytime, and news TV has brought Emmy Awards to Mikey Day, Pamela Adlon, Jason Alexander, Bob Costas, Katie Couric, Kathy Griffin, Jeff Hiller, Christopher Jackson, Gayle King, Susan Lucci, Andrea Martin, Eric McCormack, Oscar Nuñez, Billy Porter, Phil Rosenthal, Tony Shalhoub, Sherri Shepherd, Bruce Vilanch, and Alan Zweibel.

Grammy Award winners for their comedy and Broadway work include Lewis Black, Kathy Griffin, Christopher Jackson, and Billy Porter. There's no guarantee they'll sing in Celebrity Autobiography — but hey, you never know.

Re-read all about it. A handful of celebs clearly wanted to sink their teeth into excerpts from starry writings again. Matthew Broderick, Jackie Hoffman, and Andrea Martin, along with Pack and Reyfel, all performed in the first New York run and also joined the Broadway lineup.

Saturday Night Live has been a rich source of readers since Celebrity Autobiography premiered in New York. This Broadway run includes current and former cast members Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Will Forte, Bobby Moynihan, Laraine Newman, Cheri Oteri, Molly Shannon, and Kenan Thompson, plus longtime SNL writer Alan Zweibel.

Celebrity Autobiography’s script changes regularly alongside the consistently rotating cast, but around two dozen memoirs and poetry collections (yes, Matthew McConaughey published poems) are used as material for each show.

Over 50 celebs who’ve participated in the show over the years, including at least 10 current cast members, have written autobiographies of their own. Will the creators use their memoirs for material?

Stay tuned to see if any of them get their books read on Broadway: Lewis Black (Nothing’s Sacred), Katie Couric (Going There), Griffin Dunne (The Friday Afternoon Club), Kathy Griffin (Official Book Club Selection), Jeff Hiller (Actress of a Certain Age), Susan Lucci (All My Life), Billy Porter (Unprotected), Molly Shannon (Hello, Molly!), Nia Vardalos (Instant Mom), and Alan Zweibel (Laugh Lines).

The legendary Hollywood star and two-time Oscar winner’s memoir Elizabeth Taylor comes into play in Celebrity Autobiography's grand finale, a sequence about the infamous love affair also involving Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, whose memoirs lend additional material, as well as Richard Burton. No fewer than 68 women have read for the legendary Liz, per the show’s press team.

One autobiography in the show has a non-human subject. Sandy: The Autobiography of a Star gives voice to the original canine star of the Tony-winning Best Musical Annie. Celebrated animal trainer Bill Berloni did the actual writing on this one. Bet your bottom dollar, the sequence fetches big laughs in the show.

Creator Eugene Pack knows his way around this show. He has performed in it over 150 times across various productions, according to the press team. He appears each night on Broadway to host the event and read select memoirs, so that number will just keep growing throughout the summer. Maybe he'll write a memoir about the experience someday.

Get Celebrity Autobiography tickets now.

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