Jennifer Ashley Tepper

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Jennifer Ashley Tepper is an acclaimed theatre historian, author, and programming director. She has been the Creative and Programming Director at 54 Below for over a decade. Tepper's four volumes of The Untold Stories of Broadway book series have been called an "inspiring Must- Read" by NBC New York and occupied the #1 spot on Amazon.com's Best Sellers List in Broadway & Musicals. Her newest book, Women Writing Musicals: The Legacy that the History Books Left Out is the first-ever book about female musical theatre writers. Tepper was the producer of the musicals Be More Chill, Broadway Bounty Hunter, and Love In Hate Nation, projects that are part of a decade-long collaboration with the group known as Joe Iconis & Family. She is the conceiver of The Jonathan Larson Project, which premiered off-Broadway in 2025 and in London in 2026, following an acclaimed 2018 concert premiere and cast recording.

As the leader of 54 Below's creative programming team, Tepper is responsible for programming all shows at the Broadway supper club and concert venue. She has curated and overseen the production of over 8000 shows, ranging from musicals in concert, to original solo acts, to theatrical reunions, to songwriter celebrations, and beyond. 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." Among this work, she has produced the sensational tradition known as The Joe Iconis Christmas Extravaganza for over 15 years.

On Broadway, Tepper has worked on shows in directing, producing, and marketing capacities, including [title of show], The Performers, The Parisian Woman, 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, Stage 42, Signature, 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 was Managing Editor of The Best Plays Theatre Yearbook and was on the Artists Board for the Encores! Off-Center series. She has been a freelance contributor to Playbill, BroadwayWorld, Theatermania, and Backstage. Her weekly BroadwayWorld column, Broadway Deep Dive, has been running for several years, answering reader questions about theatre and relating the current season to theatre history. 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 has been a consultant for BroadwayCon.

Tepper is the co-creator of the Bistro Award-winning concert series, If It Only Even Runs A Minute. 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."

After years of research at the Library of Congress, Tepper conceived The Jonathan Larson Project, a show featuring the RENT creator’s extraordinary unheard songs. The show features lost work from Larson’s never-produced musicals like 1984 and Superbia, songs that were cut from RENT and tick, tick… BOOM!, and songs that had never been heard before. After a celebrated twelve-performance run at 54 Below, the show was forever immortalized by Ghostlight Records. The Jonathan Larson Project was further developed into a stage musical and premiered off-Broadway at the Orpheum in 2025, where it received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Revue. The Jonathan Larson Project made its London premiere at Southwark Playhouse in 2026.

As part of ongoing work related to Jonathan Larson’s legacy, Tepper was the historian consultant on the film, tick, tick… BOOM!, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda for Netflix. She was also the historian consultant on the 30th anniversary release of the original Broadway cast recording of RENT on vinyl. She wrote the foreword for Making Rent by Tim Weil and produced the American Theatre Wing’s 2018 gala honoring Jonathan Larson and family.

Tepper has collaborated for over 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.

As a writer, Tepper has authored four volumes of The Untold Stories of Broadway series, published by Dress Circle. For these books, Tepper has interviewed over 300 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, the Broadway Green Alliance, and the Broadway Advocacy Coalition. Published in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2021, 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 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."