By Marilyn Lester***When Celebrity Autobiography, conceived by Eugene Pack and developed with Dayle Reyfel, premiered in Los Angeles in 1998, it was so funny and such a hit, it kept going: London’s West End, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Sydney Opera House, the Triad
Theater in NYC (winning a 2009 Drama Desk Award for “Unique Theatrical Experience”)—still hilarious. There was a 2005 TV version on Bravo—yep, funny. And a very limited 2018 outing on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre—absolutely still funny. Now, Celebrity Autobiography is back on the Rialto for a limited run at the Shubert Theater, and it’s funnier than ever—a good thing amidst current existential crises. Celebrity Autobiography might just be more fun than a barrel of monkeys; so funny you’ll laugh your socks off; a laugh till you cry joke-fest. You get the idea.
The clever concept behind Celebrity Autobiography is that a rotating cast of 
actors, comedians, well-known figures, read actual passages from the autobiographies of other celebrities while holding their books. The show’s tag line is: “We couldn’t make this stuff up!” Indeed. As this wicked cast of opening week celebs— including Pack and Reyfel, Scott Adsit, Mario Cantone, Jeff Hiller, Jackie Hoffman, Christopher Jackson, Ben Mankiewicz Andrea Martin, Nia Vardalos and Rita Wilson (at the May 17 matinee performance)—went for broke in their readings, you’ll possibly wonder about these authors: “what were they thinking?” Did they not have editors?” And forget about “context” or whether or not you know who Geraldo Rivera is or was: their writing is fair game, and the production makes the most of it. Example
: football player Joe Namath obsessing about his hair (Mankiewicz) or an unsurprisingly vapid Khloé Kardashian (Vardalos); or Neil Sedaka’s list of the food he eats and orders in restaurants (Pack).
The ongoing success of Celebrity Autobiography lies in the genius of its structure—a choreography of movement and words, ably hosted and directed by Pack. There might be a solo reading, as with Adsit’s delivery of deep thoughts in David Hasselhoff’s 2007 tome, Don’t Hassel the Hoff. But the real fun begins with the various mashups and thematic readings by multiple cast members, who gleefully apply their own skills of dramatic interpretation, melodrama and comedy to the passages, which range 
from a single sentence to paragraphs interwoven to form a narrative. Such was the tragic history of Eddie Fisher (Pack), Debbie Reynolds (Reyfel), Elizabeth Taylor (Wilson) and Richard Burton (Adsit), star-crossed lovers of the early 1960s—great fodder for Photoplay and other celebzines of the era.
A curated side-by-side reading of the autobiographies of Broadway divas Ethel Merman (Martin) and Carol Channing (Cantone) was side-splitting, especially for those who remember the two who were an inspiration for divahood a la the likes of Patti Lupone. Cantone’s often over-the-top comedy was an asset in the production; his pantomime p
ortrayal of Liza Minelli to a reading from Geraldo Rivera’s tales of female conquest (Mankiewicz) was priceless. But the main thing to remember is that this show is presented in good fun in the time-honored tradition of satire and sketch comedy. Its 90 minutes of hilarity floats by. And for those who might quibble—taking into account curmudgeons—take the advice of the Phantom and surrender to the [comedy] of the night.
Scenic and costume design are by Derek McLane, lighting design by Ed McCarthy and sound design by Palmer Hefferan. Producers are Rita Wilson, Eric Falkenstein, Douglas Denoff, Fraboni, Peter Martin and EP Productions.
Celebrity Autobiography runs 90 minutes without an intermission, for a limited run. Find out more and purchase tickets here. The Shubert Theatre is located at 225 West 44th Street New York, NY
Photos by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
