Billy Crystal says Rob Reiner helped choose the title of 860, his new Broadway show about losing his longtime family home.
Crystal recalled their conversation during an October 11 interview with Tracy Smith on CBS Sunday Morning.
Crystal wrote and performs the solo production, which is directed by Scott Ellis.
His wife, Janice, is also one of the show’s producers, working with her husband on a story that includes their children, grandchildren and life together.
Reiner Picked the Third Title on Crystal’s List
When Reiner asked what he planned to call the production, Crystal offered several possibilities. The third was 860, the street number of the Pacific Palisades house destroyed in the January 2025 fire.
“That’s the one. I love that. I like that,” Reiner told him, Crystal recalled. The number represented 46 years in a home that had grown with the family.
Crystal told Broadway Direct in September that it began as a modest three-bedroom stucco house, with additions following as his career and family expanded. When a tree started encroaching on the house, the Crystals had it removed and a carpenter turned its wood into a staircase railing.
Crystal Had Seen the Reiners the Night Before Their Deaths
Rob and Michele Reiner died in December 2025, while Crystal was developing the show. As Entertainment Weekly reported, he remembered saying goodbye to them late the previous evening at a holiday party and struggling to comprehend their deaths.
The friendship included decades of work together, including When Harry Met Sally…, which Reiner directed with Crystal starring opposite Meg Ryan.
His Phone Recordings Became Material for the Show
During his September 30 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Crystal explained that he began recording events on his phone as firefighting aircraft flew overhead. He continued documenting what happened without knowing whether the footage would become a documentary or remain something for his family.
He eventually began writing stories to accompany the videos, according to TheWrap. Those recollections included funny moments inside the house as well as the frightening circumstances of their evacuation.
An old photograph taken with a 360-degree camera helped recreate his home office for the set. Crystal said that standing inside the reproduction could feel comforting and painful at once.
The show recounts the morning helicopters and sirens alerted them to the approaching blaze. Crystal jokes that while Janice considered medications and prescriptions, he was thinking about a leftover veal parmesan sandwich in the refrigerator.
The Smallest Keepsakes Were Among the Hardest Losses
Crystal told Broadway Direct that he particularly missed a matchbox from his parents’ wedding. Each year on their anniversary, he had used one of its small wooden matches to light a memorial candle.
His mother’s tomato-shaped pincushion carried another memory, watching her thread a needle to hem his pants. Those everyday objects, he said, held associations that even the family’s art collection could not replace.
After his awards were destroyed, the television academy replaced his six Emmys, and the Tony Awards organization replaced the trophies he and Janice received for 700 Sundays.
‘860’ Opens at the Imperial Theatre on October 21
Crystal’s earlier solo show, 700 Sundays, centered on his childhood and the approximately 700 Sundays he shared with his father before his death when Crystal was 15. It won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event.
Crystal said that creating the new production had already helped him process his losses, much as performing the earlier show had helped him work through his father’s death.
Previews began October 1, with the limited engagement scheduled through January 3, 2027, according to the Broadway League. Marc Shaiman provides original music and adaptations.