Billy Crystal Brings Tony-Winning 700 SUNDAYS Back to Broadway's Imperial Theatre Tonight

Billy Crystal will return to Broadway this fall for a 9-week-only limited engagement of his Tony Award-winning, record-breaking play 700 Sundays. This will mark the final engagement of this production. Previews began Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at the Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street) with opening night scheduled for tonight, November 13, 2013 and a final performance set for Sunday, January 5, 2014. 700 Sundays is performed and written by Mr. Crystal with additional content by Alan Zweibel and direction by Des McAnuff.

"700 SUNDAYS has, without question, been the most satisfying experience of my career," said Crystal. "When we originally opened on Broadway, all I knew was that I had a story that I was compelled to share. Now that I've performed my play across the country and internationally, I'm gratified to know that the love of family, through joy and pain, is perhaps the most universal story. I've now decided to tell this story one last time in my own backyard, where it all took place. It is a privilege to return to Broadway to say goodbye to one of the greatest thrills of my life."

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.

Billy Crystal was pronounced "The King of Broadway" by The New York Post for the Broadway debut of 700 Sundays which, in its opening week on Broadway, broke the house record for highest weekly gross at the Broadhurst Theatre and then continued to top its own record every week. With a cumulative gross of over $21 million, 700 Sundays set a record for the highest weekly grossing non-musical in Broadway history at that time ($1,061,689 for the week ending 5/22/05) and was one of the top ten grossing shows every single week of its run, despite playing only seven performances per week.

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. In 2009, Billy brought the show back to the United States with engagements in six major cities: Washington, DC; Philadelphia; Dallas; Palm Beach; Miami; and Atlanta. This fall's Broadway engagement will mark the show's first return to New York since its Broadway debut.

For group sales and information, contact Shubert Group Sales at (800) 432-7780. Single tickets will be on-sale at a later date to be announced.

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

BIOGRAPHIES:

Billy Crystal (Performer and Playwright). Multiple Emmy Award winning comedian and actor Billy Crystal is known worldwide for his Golden Globe nominated film roles in "When Harry Met Sally..." and "City Slickers," "The Princess Bride" and "Analyze This"; his 2005 Tony-winning Broadway show, "700 Sundays"; as a cast member of "Saturday Night Live"; and as the host, multiple times, of the Academy Awards. Crystal was born on March 14, 1948 and grew up in Long Beach, New York. He graduated from New York University with a BFA from the Tisch School of Arts in 1970. His breakthrough role was on the nighttime series "Soap" from 1977 to 1981. In 1984 he hosted "Saturday Night Live" and then joined the cast. His most famous creation was Fernando, a talk-show host with the tagline "You look mahvelous!" Some of his film other film credits include "This Is Spinal Tap" (1984), "Running Scared" (1986), "Throw Momma from the Train" (1987), and "Monsters, Inc." (2001). He also wrote, directed, and starred in "Mr. Saturday Night" (1992) and "Forget Paris" (1995), earning a Golden Globe nomination for "Mr. Saturday Night."

Alan Zweibel (Additional Written Content) An original Saturday Night Live writer who the New York Times says has "earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture," Alan Zweibel has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild of America, and TV Critics awards for his work in television which also includes It's Garry Shandling's Show, Monk, PBS'sGreat Performances, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. A frequent guest on talk shows such as The Late Show with David Letterman, Alan's many theatrical contributions include the Tony Award winning play 700 Sundays which he collaborated on with Billy Crystal, Martin Short's Broadway hit Fame Becomes Me, and the off-Broadway play Bunny Bunny - Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy which he adapted from his best-selling book. Alan has written the 2006 Thurber Prize winning novel The Other Shulman, the popular children's book Our Tree Named Steve, and a collection of short stories and essays titled Clothing Optional. His humor has also appeared in such diverse publications as Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Op-Ed page, The Huffington Post and MAD Magazine. The co-writer of the screenplays for the films Dragnet, North, and The Story of Us, Alan recently received an honorary PhD. from the State University of New York and in 2010 the Writers Guild of America gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award. Alan is currently working with Billy Crystal on the feature film version of 700 Sundays to be directed by Barry Levinson, executive producing a documentary mini-series with Steve Carell and David Steinberg and writing a novel titled Offsidewith Dave Barry. And on the TV screen he will be appearing as a new character in the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm and in a short film for Funny or Die.

Des McAnuff (Director) is the artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Broadway: Jesus Christ Superstar, Guys and Dolls, Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth Invention, Jersey Boys, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, How To Succeed..., The Who's Tommy (director/co-author with Pete Townshend), A Walk in the Woods, Big River. Stratford:Henry V, Christopher Plummer's A Word or Two; Twelfth Night, Jesus Christ Superstar; The Tempest; As You Like It;Macbeth; A Funny Thing... ; Romeo and Juliet, Caesar and Cleopatra. Elsewhere: director emeritus of La Jolla Playhouse, where as artistic director he directed more than 30 productions; Doctor Zhivago throughout Australia and currently in South Korea. Opera: Faust (Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera), Wozzeck (San Diego). Film:Cousin Bette and Rocky and Bullwinkle (director), Iron Giant (producer) and Quills (executive producer). Stratford'sCaesar and Cleopatra, The Tempest and Twelfth Night were also filmed for theatrical release to sold-out houses across Canada, and The Tempest was released in U.S. theatres. Two-time Tony, Olivier and Dora Award-winning director and 2006 recipient of the Drama League's prestigious Julia Hansen Award for lifetime achievement in directing. In June 2011 he was honoured with a doctorate from Toronto's Ryerson University, in May 2012 he received the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards' National Arts Centre Award, and in June 2012 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

David F. Weiner (Scenic Design) designed Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays for Broadway and La Jolla Playhouse and An Evening with Billy Crystal and His Special Guest David Steinberg. David's critically acclaimed scenic designs can regularly be seen at Sledgehammer and Diversionary Theatres in San Diego. His award-winning artwork can be seen from time to time at local galleries.

David Lee CUTHBERT (Lighting Design) lit the Tony Award-winning 700 Sundays on Broadway as well as the national and international tours. His work has been seen at Arena Stage, Asolo Rep, Opera San Jose, Indiana Rep, South Coast Rep, The Group at Strasberg, PCPA Theaterfest, The Magic Theatre, A Contemporary Theater, The Intiman, Syracuse Stage, Arizona Theater Company, 7 Stages and PS122. For San Jose Rep he designed Secret Order (scenery and projections), This Wonderful Life (projections and lights), As You Like It (scenery and projections), Groundswell and The Kite Runner. He has been a frequent collaborator at San Diego Rep, where he designed sets, lights and projections forWomen Who Steal, A Christmas Carol 1941 and Boom. He was a resident artist at Sledgehammer Theatre, where he designed lights, sets and projections for over a dozen productions. He is the Theater Arts Department Chair and a Professor of Design at UC Santa Cruz.

Michael Clark (Projection Design). Credits include: Breakfast at Tiffany's, Annie, Chaplin, Ghost The Musical, Brief Encounter, Jersey Boys, Ring of Fire (Broadway and Studio Arena Theatre), 700 Sundays (Broadway and La Jolla),Dracula the Musical (Broadway and La Jolla), The Elephant Man (Broadway), Manon Lescaut (Washington Opera),Allegro, One Red Flower and Hedwig (Signature Theatre), The Last Five Years (Philadelphia Theate Company),Company, Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along (Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration), Spider-Man Live (tour), Music from a Sparkling Planet (Drama Dept), Aeros (tour) and Dinner with Friends (ACT).

Steve Canyon Kennedy (Sound Design) was the production engineer on such Broadway shows as Cats, Starlight Express, Song & Dance, The Phantom of the Opera, Carrie and Aspects of Love. Broadway sound design credits includeHands On A Hardbody, Jesus Christ Superstar, Catch Me If You Can, Guys and Dolls, Mary Poppins, The Lion King, Jersey Boys (Drama Desk Award), Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, Hairspray, The Producers, Aida, Titanic, Big, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Carousel and The Who's Tommy (Drama Desk Award).