How Daniel Radcliffe Surprises Audience Members at EVERY BRILLIANT THING

If you attend a performance of Every Brilliant Thing on Broadway, you may have a chance to interact with Daniel Radcliffe before the show even starts. During a visit to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the Tony Award winner shared how he has surprised some theatergoers when they spot him in the audience before it begins.

“If the show starts at 8:00, I am in the audience at 7:30, seeing everyone coming in [and] handing out cards. It has a number on them. If I shout the number, you shout what’s on the card,” Radcliffe explained. “I am really alarming people who are just trying to find their seats, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Though the play is a one-man show, every night features audience participation from willing participants, some of whom are established before it begins. There are also five audience members who end up playing characters onstage. “It should feel every night like we are making the whole play together,” said Radcliffe. Check out his conversation with Colbert now. 

Every Brilliant Thing began previews on Saturday, February 21, 2026, ahead of an official opening night of Thursday, March 12. The limited thirteen-week engagement continues through May 24, 2026 at the Hudson Theatre. 

The show is written by Olivier Award nominee Duncan MacMillan with Jonny Donahoe and directed by Olivier & Tony Award nominee Jeremy Herrin & Duncan MacMillan. The production marks Radcliffe’s first return to Broadway since his Tony-winning run in Merrily We Roll Along, which also played the Hudson.

Every Brilliant Thing is an exhilarating and heartwarming play, in which a man looks back at his life and the glimmers of hope that carried him through. All told through a list of every wonderful, beautiful, and delightful thing — big, small, and everything in between — that makes life worth living.