Jennifer Ashley Tepper is producer of the musicals Be More Chill, Broadway Bounty Hunter, and Love In Hate Nation. She is also the Creative and Programming Director at Feinstein's/54 Below, and the author of The Untold Stories of Broadway book series. She is the creator of The Jonathan Larson Project and historian consultant on the upcoming film version of tick, tick...BOOM! Tepper was recently named recipient of a 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.
As the leader of Feinstein's/54 Below's creative programming team, Tepper is responsible for programming every show at the Broadway supper club and concert venue. She has curated and overseen the production of over 3500 shows, ranging from musicals in concert, to original solo acts, to theatrical reunions, to songwriter celebrations, and beyond. Feinstein's/54 Below has become notable for being the only venue of its kind: presenting over a dozen shows every week, specializing in Broadway acts, and welcoming both traditional cabaret and innovative new work. Tepper's leadership has been instrumental in making the locale "Broadway's Living Room", where on any given night one can find Broadway's biggest stars and emerging talents side by side, creating and sharing new work in an intimate theatrical environment.
Tepper's producing work on original ventures at the venue has gained praise from publications including The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Buzzfeed, Playbill, Newsday, the New York Post, and more. From Hit List (the live concert version of the fictional musical from NBC's Smash) to Smile: A Broadway Reunion Concert to her collaborations with musical theatre writers both established and emerging, Tepper has, according to Theatermania, "brought her encyclopedic knowledge and typical gusto to the venue, knowing just what musical theatre enthusiasts are looking for."
On Broadway, Tepper has worked on shows in directing, producing, and marketing capacities, including [title of show], The Performers, the 2011 revival of Godspell, and the 2013 revival of Macbeth. She has also worked at off-Broadway and regional theaters, including Second Stage Theatre, Ars Nova, The York Theatre, Weston Playhouse, and Goodspeed. Other credits include projects, shows, and educational initiatives with The National Alliance for Musical Theatre, The Producing Office, PBS, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, TEDx Broadway, The Dramatists Guild, Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS, the New York Public Library, The Actors Fund, New York City Center, the Broadway Green Alliance, the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and New York University, where Tepper is a proud graduate. Tepper has worked as the Managing Editor of The Best Plays Theatre Yearbook, and is currently on the Artists Board for the Encores Off-Center series. She is a freelance contributor to Playbill, BroadwayWorld, Theatermania, and Backstage. As an educator, she has been involved with Florida Thespians, New York Thespians, Texas' Joci Awards, and the St. Louis Cabaret Convention, and given master classes at several universities and high schools. She is a consultant for BroadwayCon.
Tepper is the co-creator of the Bistro Award-winning concert series, If It Only Even Runs A Minute, now in its 7th year. ...Runs A Minute celebrates short-lived Broadway and off-Broadway musicals in concerts that feature photos and research as well as songs. Each concert also boasts original cast members and writers telling stories, as well as songs that have never been recorded. The series thus far has comprised over 250 performers and over 200 'under-appreciated' shows. AM New York has called the series: "Artistically compelling... displays the blood, guts, sweat and tears that go into making Broadway shows."
Her most recent contribution to the concert world is The Jonathan Larson Project, an evening of the RENT composer's unheard work. After years of research at the Library of Congress, Tepper curated a show featuring songs from Larson's never-produced shows like 1984 and Superbia, songs that were cut from RENT and tick tick BOOM, songs that had never been heard before. After a celebrated twelve-performance run at Feinstein's/54 Below, the show was forever immortalized by Ghostlight Records.
Tepper has collaborated for almost a decade on musicals, concerts and other projects with the group known as Joe Iconis & Family, who recently won a rave New York Times review and a MAC Award nomination for their work. In addition to producing Be More Chill, Broadway Bounty Hunter, and Love In Hate Nation, she has worked in various capacities on his other shows including the Drama Desk-nominated Bloodsong of Love.
The New York Times recently announced her project coming to Greenwich House Theater this summer, "Emboldened by Be More Chill, which is selling well in early previews, Ms. Tepper is planning this week to announce a commercial Off Broadway production of another Iconis show, Broadway Bounty Hunter, about an out-of-work actor who finds a job hunting criminals. It stars Annie Golden, who, although more than a generation older than Mr. Iconis and his college friends, is one of his most loyal collaborators."
As a writer, Tepper has authored three volumes of The Untold Stories of Broadway series, published by Dress Circle. For these books, Tepper interviewed 250 theatre professionals about the Broadway theaters themselves and their stories of working in each house. The books cover over 70 years of our theatrical history, shared through first-hand interviews with Broadway professionals who were there. The Untold Stories of Broadway books comprise stories with actors, producers, directors, writers, designers, stagehands, door men and women, musicians, house managers, press agents, ushers, and many more. Interspersed with interviewees' stories are Tepper's own tales and discoveries about each historic building. The Untold Stories of Broadway partners with a charitable organization that receives proceeds from each volume, and is currently partnered with Broadway Impact, the Theatre Development Fund, and the Broadway Green Alliance. Published in 2013, 2014, and 2016, each book has occupied the #1 spot on Amazon.com's Best Sellers List in Broadway & Musicals. NBC New York has called the books an 'inspiring Must-Read'.
Tepper was recently named one of the 10 professionals on Backstage Magazine's "1st Annual Broadway Future Power List", alongside Alex Timbers and Leigh Silverman. According to the article: "Proving herself both a zeitgeist predictor and theatrical historian with her eclectic programming, Tepper is leading the conversation on contemporary musical theatre."
May 17, 2026
Perhaps the most well-known instance of a show changing titles during the development process belongs to the groundbreaking 1943 phenomenon, Oklahoma! The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that changed the art form in terms of subject matter, integration of elements, and more was originally titled Away We Go! when it went out of town for a New Haven tryout. Oklahoma! is far from the only instance where a musical changed its title along the development road.
May 10, 2026
Friendship is nearly always a side element in musicals. From the comic sidekick of the leading character to the backup pals who provide background vocals, friends are part of the fabric of many shows—but rarely are they the main event.
April 26, 2026
Since the start of television’s legendary Saturday Night Live in 1975, there has been cross-over between the show and Broadway. Actors who have started out on Broadway have ended up gracing our televisions on Saturday night as cast members in the sketch comedy program.
April 19, 2026
Musicals and plays based on movies? Many. Based on books? Also plentiful. Based on true stories? Of course. But musicals and plays based on or inspired by magazine articles? These are a rare breed. One recently opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre.
April 5, 2026
Tony winner Celia Keenan-Bolger talks ANTIGONE (This Play I Read In High School) at The Public Theater, working with direct address, the legacy of Spelling Bee, and more in this Broadway Deep Dive.
April 12, 2026
Broadway has a long history of one-person shows, including many that have been added to the canon in this century. Seeing one actor powerfully create a whole world on stage can be an exceptional experience. Of course, one handers are hardly one-person projects; while there may only be one actor on stage, they are collaborating with an entire team of creatives, designers, and behind-the-scenes personnel to bring a show to life.
March 8, 2026
Tony Award winner Richard Maltby, Jr. discusses with Jennifer Ashley Tepper About Time, his new revue written with collaborator David Shire which, alongside Starting Here, Starting Now and Closer Than Ever, completes the writing team’s trilogy. They also chat about friendship with Stephen Sondheim, how Off-Broadway has evolved since the 1960s, the role Yale University has played, and more.
March 29, 2026
Our 41 Broadway theaters provide a home for every production that hits the Great White Way. From our oldest continually operating Broadway house, the Lyceum, to our newest reopened and functioning Broadway house, the Hudson, the Broadway theaters are all located in midtown Manhattan. Who are all of our current Broadway houses named for...?
February 22, 2026
Current star of Masquerade Telly Leung discusses with Jennifer Ashley Tepper playing the Phantom in the immersive production, the full circle from Rent fan to Rent actor, Gavin Creel’s leadership during a production that never was, and much more.
March 15, 2026
Four of Broadway’s ten longest running musicals are currently on the boards: Chicago, The Lion King, Wicked, and The Book of Mormon. One, The Phantom of the Opera, closed in 2023 after attaining the title of longest running Broadway show of all time. But what about Broadway’s longest running plays?
March 22, 2026
The large majority of our 41 Broadway theaters were built to be Broadway theaters. Other than the Winter Garden, which was originally a horse exchange, the Nederlander, which was originally a carpenter’s shop, and the Broadway and Lunt-Fontanne which were originally movie theaters, every current Broadway house was intended from the beginning to present Broadway shows. As for off-Broadway? The opposite is true.
March 1, 2026
This history gives context to the legacies of theatrical dynasties—considered to consist of at least three subsequent generations of theatre creators. In 2026, there is a stigma around any successful professional who follows a parent into their line of work, with this being seen as a pattern of nepotism.
February 15, 2026
For the past two seasons, 14 or 15 new musicals have opened on Broadway. Even in the challenging first two seasons coming out of the pandemic, Broadway saw 8 or 9 new musicals opening. And in the last four full seasons prior to the pandemic, Broadway saw an average of 11 new musicals per season. What gives?
February 1, 2026
During and prior to the Golden Age of Broadway, songs regularly premiered on stage and then charted, spending time on the radio and becoming popular worldwide. In the 1960s, Broadway songs and popular music diverged, and work from musicals was no longer synonymous with chart hits. There have certainly been a good share of exceptions since that decade, as Broadway has evolved to mirror popular, current music genres. Several of the songs that have broken through to the Billboard charts can be heard on Broadway!
January 25, 2026
The history of shows that have transferred from off-Broadway to Broadway is well documented. Hundreds of Broadway plays and musicals started out off-Broadway before making the leap to a Broadway house. But much more rare is the circumstance of a show starting out off-off-Broadway (that’s right, two ‘off’s!) and traveling all the way to the main stem. One of these shows is playing right now, and is a major theatre success story with off-off-Broadway roots!
February 8, 2026
The Broadway production of Ragtime was a glorious accomplishment, a riveting testament to the original American musical and to all that America itself could be. The show ran for 834 performances at the Ford Center, closing in the final year of the 20th century. It was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, taking home four.
January 11, 2026
It wasn’t until later on in theatre history that revivals began including shows that weren’t initially well received or financially successful in their initial engagements. As musical theatre continued to evolve, and more shows entered the canon, a consensus began to grow about shows being worthy of additional exploration even if they hadn’t been hits the first time around. What about musicals that had been ahead of their time, musicals that had fallen prey to circumstances, early works by writers who became successful later on, and of course, shows that found an audience after closing via their cast recordings?
January 4, 2026
The idea of the concept album took flight at the same time as the idea of the rock musical. A concept album introduces audiences to the score of a musical by deliberately releasing an album of the songs before any live production exists at all. The concept album ostensibly stands on its own terms.
December 28, 2025
This season, three plays are receiving Broadway debuts which already made significant noise off-Broadway in their original productions, years ago. Becky Shaw, Bug, and Marjorie Prime will all be opening on Broadway in early 2026 in brand new productions. The first and last are spending time on Broadway at the Hayes under the auspices of Second Stage while Bug is being presented by Manhattan Theatre Club at their home, the Friedman.
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