RIALTO CHATTER: Will Billy Crystal Bring One-Man Show Back to Broadway?

The New York Post's PAGE SIX is reporting today in their "We hear..." column that "That Billy Crystal has grossed $21 million with two tours of his one-man show, "700 Sundays," and might bring it back to Broadway".

700 SUNDAYS, an autobiographical journey, is an original two-act play in which Billy plays numerous characters that have influenced who he is today. It deals with his youth, growing up in the jazz world of Manhattan, his teenage years, and finally adulthood. It is about family and fate, loving and loss.

In its opening week on Broadway, 700 SUNDAYS broke the house record for highest weekly gross at the Broadhurst Theatre and then continued to top its own record every week. The week ending May 22, 2005, marked the highest grossing week, not only for the Broadhurst Theatre, but also for any non-musical production in Broadway history, taking in $1,061,688 at the box office.

The show won the 2005 Tony Award for Special Theatrical Experience and both the 2005 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance.

Following the Broadway production, Billy played sold out limited engagements of 700 SUNDAYS in Toronto, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Billy then took 700 SUNDAYS to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, where both engagements sold out upon announcement and won the 2007 Helpmann Award for Best Special Event.

Produced by Janice Crystal, Larry Magid and Face Productions, 700 SUNDAYS has a scenic design by David F. Weiner, lighting design by David Lee Cuthbert, projection design by Michael Clark and sound design is by Steve Canyon Kennedy.

Billy Crystal (Playwright/Performer) has created one of the most versatile and prolific careers in the entertainment industry, finding success in front of the camera, as a performer in film and television, and behind the scenes as a writer, director and producer. After touring with such stars as Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka, and Sha Na Na, he became a regular on the popular series "Soap" playing the first openly gay character on a network television series. During the 1984-85 television seasons, Billy met with phenomenal national success on "Saturday Night Live." He created, wrote and produced the critically acclaimed HBO series "Sessions" and became the first comedian to perform in the then-Soviet Union with his special "Midnight Train to Moscow," one of four one-man specials he has done for HBO. He has hosted the Grammy Awards three times and, of course, the Oscars eight times. He starred in Running Scared, Throw Momma from the Train, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers, Mr. Saturday Night, Forget Paris, Hamlet, Deconstructing Harry, Analyze This, Monster's Inc. and America's Sweethearts. Crystal's film 61* for HBO films showcased Billy as both director and executive producer. It garnered 12 Emmy nominations including nods for Best Director and Best Made for Television Movie and also earned him a prestigious Director's Guild nomination. Crystal made his Broadway debut with "700 Sundays," an autobiographical one-man play. It opened to stellar reviews, and broke box office records, becoming the highest grossing non-musical in the history of Broadway and garnered Crystal the Tony in 2006, Outer Critics Circle Award, and the prestigious Drama Desk Award. Crystal also took "700 Sundays" on tour to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, and Australia also breaking box office records there and earning him the Australian Tony Award. Crystal also adapted "700 Sundays" into a book which joined Billy's two children's books, I Already Know I Love You and Grandpas Little One on the New York Times Bestseller's List. A dedicated human rights advocate, he has co-hosted with Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg all eight "Comic Relief" telethons on HBO which have brought the plight of the nation's homeless to the public and raised over $40 million for housing and medical care for these needy people. Billy, Robin and Whoopi reunited in November 2005 for a special "Comic Relief," to aid those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Billy has won six Emmy Awards, six American Comedy Awards and seven Cable Ace Awards. Most recently, he was honored with the 2007 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington. He has been married for 39 years to Janice, with whom he has two daughters, Jennifer and Lindsay, and granddaughter's Ella and Dylan.

Photo credit Peter James Zielinski