Why Billy Crystal’s New Broadway Show Is Called 860

Billy Crystal is back on Broadway with a show named after a house number. 860, his new one-man show, began previews at New York’s Imperial Theatre on October 1. The title comes from the Pacific Palisades home where Crystal and his wife, Janice, lived for 46 years before losing it in the January 2025 fire.

That loss is part of the story, but Crystal does not want audiences to expect an evening devoted only to the fire. In an interview with Broadway Direct, he described a show about the life his family had there: the good years, the hard ones and the people who made the house a home.

For viewers who know him from movies or his Oscar-hosting appearances, this is a different setting. Crystal is not playing a film character or introducing the next award. He is writing and performing his own story, with director Scott Ellis helping bring it to the stage.

The number belongs to a whole life

The name is deliberately personal. Rather than using a movie title or one of his familiar catchphrases, Crystal has put his family’s address at the center of the show. The official production describes its subjects as family, friendship, love, luck and loss. Together, those give a broader idea of the evening than the fire alone.

Crystal told Broadway Direct that he began recording videos and making diary notes as the disaster unfolded. He eventually saw the material as a possible stage companion to 700 Sundays, the earlier solo show about his childhood in Long Beach, New York, and the beginning of his life in comedy.

The two shows cover different parts of his life. The new one looks at the decades that followed, when he and Janice raised their family in California. That makes the house number more than a reference to a place he lost: it also names the years he wants to talk about.

What Crystal wants from the audience

Crystal’s Broadway Direct interview makes clear that he is interested in more than getting a laugh. He wants people to recognize something of their own lives in his memories.

“When I see the audience nodding, I know I’m reaching them in an honest way.”

— Billy Crystal, speaking to Broadway Direct.

That is also why the family connection matters behind the scenes. Janice Crystal is a producer on 860, alongside James L. Nederlander, Larry Magid and Face Productions. Scott Ellis directs, and Scott Pask is the scenic designer. Billy Crystal is the show’s writer and performer, rather than one member of a larger cast.

From 700 Sundays to a new solo show

Crystal made his Broadway debut with 700 Sundays in 2004, winning the 2005 Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event. He returned with that show in 2013 and later appeared on Broadway in the 2022 musical Mr. Saturday Night.

Those credits help explain what kind of return this is. Unlike Mr. Saturday Night, 860 is not a musical adaptation with several actors playing a fictional family. It brings Crystal back to the solo, autobiographical format of 700 Sundays, now with another period of his life to share.

He discussed the new show during his September 30 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Brooklyn. The interview also covers his work with Robert De Niro and his early comedy experiences. The video above is that television conversation, not footage from the Broadway performance.

Previews have started; opening night is still ahead

The current performances are previews, with opening night set for October 21. Those are separate dates: audiences can already see the show, but its formal Broadway opening has not happened yet.

860 is playing a limited engagement at the Imperial Theatre, 249 West 45th Street, New York. The official show website lists the current performance schedule. No streaming release has been announced, so the Broadway production and Crystal’s Kimmel interview should not be confused with an online version of the full show.