Fireproof, Critics Open Their Arms to Billy Crystal's 860 on West 45th

Critics have mostly embraced Billy Crystal's 860, the solo show about his lost Pacific Palisades home that opened Wednesday, October 21, at the Imperial Theatre. All eight reviews we read are favorable, though two have real reservations.

West 45th Street is not short of marquees, but few of them carry a street number. The number belongs to the house in Pacific Palisades where Crystal and his family lived for 46 years, as New York Theatre Guide notes, until it burned in the January 2025 wildfires.

Playbill's review roundup links 19 reviews. We read eight of them in full. The New York Times, The Guardian, the New York Post and Entertainment Weekly would not open for us, so their verdicts are not counted here.

What Is 860 About?

860 is a one-man show written and performed by Crystal and directed by Scott Ellis. It is a memory play about a family home and the people who passed through it.

Time Out's Adam Feldman calls the evening "a living memorial" to the house and to friends who have since died, among them Muhammad Ali, Robin Williams and Rob Reiner. The set recreates Crystal's office, packed with keepsakes, while projections show family photographs and footage from his career, amNewYork reports.

According to BroadwayWorld's production notes, Marc Shaiman supplies original music and adaptations, Scott Pask designed the set, Jen Schriever the lighting and Hana S. Kim and Kylee Loera the video.

What Did the Critics Say?

The short answer is that they liked it, and several loved it. Six of the eight reviews we read are warm without much qualification.

Feldman gives it four stars and calls Crystal "a model mensch." Roma Torre of New York Stage Review gives five stars and calls the show "a wonderful gift to audiences in need of a reason to celebrate life in all its wild incarnations." Her subtitle gave this story its headline.

Crystal is at his comedic best proving a lifetime of memories are fireproof.

Torre's colleague Frank Scheck gives four stars and calls the evening "a master class in the autobiographical blending of humor and emotion." David Gordon of TheaterMania writes that "this is both the funniest and saddest show on Broadway right now."

Robert Hofler of TheWrap says the show "goes from a disaster drama to the full-blown comedy any Crystal fan would expect." Joe Dziemianowicz of New York Theatre Guide calls it "a deeply personal show that's brimming with laughs and all but guaranteed to bring tears," while noting that "some vignettes land more decisively than others."

Where Did Critics Hold Back?

Two critics are cooler. Matt Windman of amNewYork says plainly that 860 works, but he calls Crystal's earlier solo hit 700 Sundays "clearly the better-developed show" and says some stories "still feel like padding." He still writes that he "could have easily and happily stayed longer."

Jonathan Mandell of New York Theater is the toughest of the eight. He points out that "only about a third" of the show deals directly with the fire and its aftermath, and he calls some of the jokes "a string of groan-worthy one-liners, mostly about aging." He also calls Crystal "a practiced storyteller, a funny man."

So the quarrels are about shape, not about the man telling the stories.

How Does a Solo Show Fill the Imperial?

The Imperial seats 1,450, and Feldman says Crystal makes it "feel cozy." He also notes that 700 Sundays and 860 are the only non-musicals to play the house since the 1970s.

That is the strange math of this run. A room built for big musicals is given over to one man, an office set and a lifetime of photographs.

What to Know Before You Go

860 plays the Imperial Theatre, 249 West 45th Street, through January 3, 2027, according to Playbill. Previews began October 1. Producers are Janice Crystal, James L. Nederlander, Larry Magid and Face Productions.

The show runs without an intermission. Reviews put it at 95 to 100 minutes, and the production's own site does not list a running time. Starting prices differ by outlet, so check the performance calendar on the official site before you buy.

Our earlier story on Crystal's arrival at the Imperial has the backstory.

A man lost a house and kept every room. On West 45th Street, he lets the audience walk through them.