Billy Crystal’s 860 opens Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre. The 100-minute autobiographical solo show takes its title from the address of the Los Angeles home the Crystal family lost in the Palisades fire. Scott Ellis directs the 14-week limited engagement, which has been in previews since October 1.
Key Takeaways
- 860 officially opens October 21, 2026, at the Imperial Theatre on West 45th Street, with a limited run ending in early January 2027.
- The title refers to the street address of the home where Billy Crystal and his family lived for 46 years before it burned in the Palisades fire.
- Crystal wrote the show and performs it alone, in 100 minutes with no intermission.
- Scott Ellis, Interim Artistic Director of Roundabout Theatre Company, directs.
- The production was first announced as a 12-week run and later expanded to 14 weeks once the Imperial was confirmed as its home.
- 860 is Crystal’s third Broadway production, after 700 Sundays in 2004 and Mr. Saturday Night in 2022.
860 Takes Its Title From the Crystal Family Address
Billy Crystal’s 860 grew out of the January 2025 Palisades fire, which destroyed the Los Angeles home he shared with his family for more than four decades. Crystal has explained the title in plain terms: “860 was the address of the home we lost in the Palisades fires.”
The show does not recount the fire itself so much as what the house held. In 860, Crystal revisits the memories tied to that address, from family life to the career built while living there, and examines how humor helped carry him through the loss. The production describes the piece as a story about family, friendship, love, luck, and loss, a list that places grief and comedy side by side from the start.
Billy Crystal Returns to a Format He Helped Define on Broadway
Billy Crystal’s 860 marks a return to the form that first brought him to Broadway. His 2004 debut, 700 Sundays, was also an autobiographical solo show, and it won the Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event. That title counted the roughly 700 Sundays Crystal had with his father before his father’s death when Crystal was 15. The production was later released as an HBO special that earned four Emmy nominations.
The parallel between the two titles is hard to miss. Both shows reduce a life-changing loss to a single number, one measuring time with a parent and the other marking the place a family called home. Crystal last appeared on Broadway in Mr. Saturday Night in 2022, a musical adaptation of his 1992 film that received five Tony nominations, including Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Crystal.
New York Roots Run Through Billy Crystal’s Career
Although 860 centers on a California home, Billy Crystal’s story begins in New York. He was born in Manhattan in 1948, and his family moved to Long Beach, Long Island, in 1951. His childhood there became the backbone of 700 Sundays, and his early stand-up years played out in Greenwich Village clubs before television brought him to Saturday Night Live.
That history gives the Imperial Theatre engagement a homecoming quality. Crystal’s career has since included film roles in When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers, nine turns as host of the Academy Awards, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2007, and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2023.
Scott Ellis Directs a 100-Minute Run at the Imperial Theatre
Billy Crystal wrote and performs 860 under the direction of Scott Ellis, whose Broadway credits include Take Me Out and Fallen Angels. The production is presented by Janice Crystal, James L. Nederlander, Larry Magid, and Face Productions.
When the show was first announced, it was billed as a 12-week engagement at a theater to be named later. Once the Imperial Theatre at 249 West 45th Street was confirmed, the run grew to 14 weeks, with previews beginning October 1. The production also launched a digital rush and lottery program ahead of its first preview, giving theatergoers a lower-cost route into a high-demand limited run.
860 Arrives in a Fall Season Built on Star-Led Limited Engagements
Billy Crystal’s 860 opens three days after the Broadway revival of Other Desert Cities, which marked Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Broadway debut. A Few Good Men follows on October 29, and Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell open in Much Ado About Nothing on November 19.
Most of these productions share a fixed end date, a pattern the season established early with Paranormal Activity’s limited engagement at the August Wilson Theatre. For 860, that structure means the show has roughly eleven weeks of performances left after opening night before its run ends in early January.
FAQs
What Is Billy Crystal’s 860?
Billy Crystal’s 860 is an autobiographical solo show about the Los Angeles home the Crystal family lost in the January 2025 Palisades fire. Crystal wrote and performs it, revisiting the memories tied to the house, where the family lived for 46 years, and how humor helped him through the loss.
Is Billy Crystal’s 860 Funny?
Billy Crystal’s 860 is billed as a comedy, even though it grows out of a loss. The production presents it as a funny, intimate story about family, friendship, love, luck, and loss, built around how laughter helped Crystal through losing his home. Critics’ reviews follow the October 21 opening.
How Long Is Billy Crystal’s 860?
Billy Crystal’s 860 runs 100 minutes with no intermission. The Broadway production is a limited 14-week engagement that began previews on October 1, 2026, and ends in early January 2027.
Where Is Billy Crystal’s 860 Playing on Broadway?
860 plays at the Imperial Theatre, 249 West 45th Street in Manhattan’s Theater District. Opening night is Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
Did Billy Crystal Lose His House in the Fire?
Yes. Billy Crystal and his family lost their Los Angeles home in the Palisades fire in January 2025. The show’s title, 860, is the street address of that house.
