Billy Crystal on Broadway

[Mark]

My wife and I ventured into NYC today and caught Billy Crystal's Broadway show. Very intimate theatre, The Broadhurst, on 44th, I figure less than 1,000 seats. He did about two hours and 15 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission. It was a one-man show based on his life. His Uncle Milt Gabler's involvement with Commodore and interesting vignettes about Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis, Jr., and a host of other musical luminaries were highlights of a show that was equal parts hilarious and poignant. Crystal has that rare ability to make you laugh and cry, and sometimes at the same time. It is a very limited engagement, and may be completely sold out, but if you are in the City and can get tickets, I highly recommend it.

[JonUrban]

Hopefully it was better than "Mr. Saturday Night"! :D

Sounds like it was. Nice review, Mark. It seems like these one man shows on Broadway are getting to be very popular with the artists, as they make the coin as the writer, performer, producer, and more. Not to mention the "high profile" of a Broadway stage.

[pdenny]

Hopefully it was better than "Mr. Saturday Night"! :D

I've never understood the drubbing this film gets from practically all quarters. I find it to be funny, poignant, with a clever story arc and a wonderful serio-comedic performance by Crystal. Supporting cast is great too (especially David Paymer as Crystal's long-suffering manager).

Of course I could be deranged, since I also think FORGET PARIS is one of the best comedies of the past 15 years, preferable over WHEN HARRY MET SALLY which I always found to be smug and obvious.

[Mark]

I've never understood the drubbing this film gets from practically all quarters. I find it to be funny, poignant, with a clever story arc and a wonderful serio-comedic performance by Crystal. Supporting cast is great too (especially David Paymer as Crystal's long-suffering manager).

Of course I could be deranged, since I also think FORGET PARIS is one of the best comedies of the past 15 years, preferable over WHEN HARRY MET SALLY which I always found to be smug and obvious.

Patrick: It's funny, but while we were reading the Playbill program on the way home on the train yesterday, I remarked to my wife that Billy's earlier films, "Running Scared," "Harry," "City Slickers," and a couple of others seemed to have aged and done a lot better with both critics and the box office than his later work.