Have a Nice Day

by Billy Crystal

Have a Nice Day features a live multi-cast script reading captured over two evenings at Minetta Lane Theatre in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.

Tony and Emmy Award winner Billy Crystal leads an all-star cast including Oscar winner Kevin Kline (President David Murray) and four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening (First Lady Katherine Murray) in a performance of this hilarious and poignant story about a man desperately scrambling to put his affairs in order: to save his presidency, his marriage, his relationship with his daughter—and possibly his life.

President David Murray starts the day in crisis. He’s lost control of Congress, has to decide whether to run for a second term, and his wife and teenage daughter are barely talking to him. What’s more, the Angel of Death has sent a rather inept “repo man” who is at the foot of his bed, giving him only one more day to live.

Cast members include Justin Bartha, Irene Bedard, Annette Bening, Chris Cafero, Dick Cavett, Auli'i Cravalho, Billy Crystal, Rachel Dratch, Darrell Hammond, Christopher Jackson, Robert King, Kevin Kline, and Robin Thede.

©2018 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Humor, Plays, Comedy, Fantasy, Drama

48 pages, Audible Audio

First published November 1, 2018

About the author

William Jacob Crystal is a Golden Globe Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning American actor, writer, producer, comedian, and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Richard Mulligan's & Cathryn Damon's TV son, Jodie Dallas, on the ABC comedy-drama, Soap, and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the box office successes When Harry Met Sally... and City Slickers.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a little disappointed in this performance by Billy Crystal and cast - the plot was plodding and the dialogue and jokes felt stilted and forced. This was close to 2 stars for me but just missed the mark due to the ending. This is nothing compared to 700 Sundays

Full review to come.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook #206

Clever little play that was produced as a radio performance Audible exclusive
Billy Crystal was at his natural best pulling out the laughs as a straight man with no name on assignment for the Grim Reaper. I'll be honest; I did not recognize Kevin Kline's voice! I dont know if it's his age or if he was sick ? But I didn't miss a second of this hour and some act and would have loved to have been in the audience.

[Susan Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so much fun! The story was funny, the acting was great and the narration was wonderful too.

This story is about POTUS and his day after meeting death. It involves his family, wife and daughter and his White House staff. It was really fun listening and I laughed and laughed; Great acting. I highly recommend this one. It was really fantastic and not a long listen.

Audible Original at its best.

[Linda Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy Crystal has a talent for making us laugh at life's more absurd sides, and that's exactly what I did listening to this live on stage multi-cast script reading. The reading is done by a 14 member cast including Kevin Kline, Bully Crystal, Annette Benning and Dick Cavett. I received this as one of the free Audible Original recordings offered last November. I loved it!

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Before kids, I used to love going to the theater, but I have not been in years. I'm so glad that I now have a chance to experience plays again with Audible originals.

Have a Nice Day had an amazing cast, and I really enjoyed the story - short (only 1.5 hours), sweet, funny and with a beautiful message. Perfect for this time of year.

This is one of the 6 free November options on audible.

[Siv30 · Rating 5 out of 5]

ביצוע מעולה! וואו הצוות שכולל את בילי קריסטל פשוט מבריק.

בוקר אחד נשיא ארה"ב מתעורר רק כדי לגלות שהוא מת. אחרי מו"מ עם מלאך המוות שמלווה אותו (בילי קריסטל) ניתנות לו עוד 17 שעות, ובדקה לחצות הוא אמור למות מוות סופי.

במשך כמעט שעתיים, העלילה מתארת את התמודדות נשיא ארה"ב עם הידיעה שזה יומו האחרון. בין לבין הוא נאלץ לטפל בסידרי העדיפויות שלו בחיים, לשכנע את אישתו שהוא לא מטורף (וכך גם את יתר העולם), לתקן את מערכת היחסים שלו עם בתו ולנסות ולהותיר מורשת שתיחקק בלבות כולם לאחר לכתו.

כפי שכתבתי הביצוע פשוט מעולה. התמוגגתי מהאזנה. ישנם חלקים משעשעים אבל בעיקר מעוררי מחשבה והמסקנה הסופית היא לחיות כל יום כאילו זה היום האחרון שלכם, כי המוות אורב לנו בכל רגע. כל דקה של חיים היא בונוס, תעריכו ותחבקו את הרגע.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

*listened to audiobook*

This was an audible freebie... It was a short play about the president waking up to find death waiting for him. Death is Billy Crystal. I just love him. This was a short, funny and sweet little play.

[Jason Parent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well performed.

[Tena Edlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and funny with a great message and wickedly talented performers. When I thought I had it figured out, I didn’t. I love that! I can totally see this as a one act for speech team.

[Ilana (illi69) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun comedy about a man who is forced to face his imminent death and who also happens to be the President of the United States (played by Kevin Kline). The inept grim reaper, (hilariously portrayed by Billy Crystal) who is sent to take him to the beyond has anxiety issues, and the POTUS's staff is scrambling to understand why the President is suddenly acting so strangely as he decides to use his last 24 hours to make things right with his nearly estranged wife (Annette Benning) and teenage daughter, and also leave a legacy he can be proud of by not allowing a pipeline project to go through. He may be guilty of having too much ambition and having an overinflated ego, but the POTUS in this story apparently does have a soul, and it may yet be redeemable. Of course things go not at all as planned or expected, but in the end, someone is bound to have a nice day. A really good production which was fun to listen to, if not the most profound philosophical work I've ever come across. But then that's not what we've come to expect from Billy Crystal either, who has a talent for making us laugh at life's more absurd sides, and that's more than fine by me. Got this as one of the free Audible Original recording offered in November.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 1 out of 5]

American President David Murray (Kevin Kline) bargains with a sad-sack grim-reaper (Billy Crystal) to grant him until the end of the day. It’s his daughter’s high-school graduation and his chance to greet his wife on her return from a trip to Africa. This Audible Original radio play was supposed to be funny. Yet, despite Billy Crystal himself having co-written the screenplay, I got to the one-third mark of the play without a single laugh. That’s when I quit.

I’m sure there was a meditation on the meaning of life somewhere in this 106-minute play, but I just couldn’t stick around to find out what it might be.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audio book was a freebie at Audible. The cast, which includes Crystal, Benning, and Kline (as well as some Disney movie alum) read the play in front of a live audience. It was a reading not a full performance. There are sound effects.

The president discovers that he only has one day left on Earth, and the plot moves on from there. Kline is the president, and Crystal is an angel of death. The plot itself is a bit predictable.

The acting, however, more than makes up for the ability to know exactly what is going to happen next. There are also some beautiful one liners from the president's aides.

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

HAVE A NICE DAY was a funny...radio play (I guess you'd call it?), offered as a free Original to Audible members.

With Billy Crystal, Annette Bening and Kevin Kline, how could I pass this up? It was performed in front of a live audience with sound effects. It funny, it was poignant, and I loved it.

*I removed the "dates read" because this isn't available as an actual book, and I didn't want it counted towards my reading challenge.*

[Dawn F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going through my monthly free Audible productions and this one deserves all the praise. Kevin Kline, Annette Bening, Billy Chrystal and the rest of the cast were just magnificent in this funny, poignant and moving play about choices and priorities. Highly recommended!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super short production. This is more like an old-fashioned radio theater production than an audio book. Great and talented actors and actresses present this story of a man who has to make the most of his last day on earth ... sorta. I enjoyed it well enough. I was not a fan of the audience laugh track. I'm not sure if I would have liked it better or worse if it didn't exist. It just felt weird in an audio book. I am a Kevin Kline, Billy Crystal, Annette Bening fan, so that was nice. Everyone did a great job making a mostly vanilla sort of story into something entertaining and, at times, touching. I'll give it three mild stars. I liked it well enough.

[Lars Dradrach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since i watched Soap as a teenager, I've had a soft spot for Billy Crystal and in this audio play he really shines, both as a writer and performer.
The show is wonderfully adapted for audio and the cast is amazing.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and fun! Perfect casting and their performances made the story fly by.

[Ronnie Galvan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Theater at its finest

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 - Funny and touching live performance of an original play

A stellar all-star cast brings Billy Crystal's play, Have a Nice Day to life. When an inept assistant to the Grim Reaper comes to collect his latest, the President of the United States, hilarity ensues.

Although I enjoyed the story from the beginning and would have given it a solid three stars, it really took off and grabbed my heart about two-thirds of the way through when the story takes an unexpected twist and again at the very end when it is time for POTUS to surrender to the Grim Reaper.

One minor annoyance, the narrator would often use phrases that start something like, "As so we find...". It makes a great transitional phrase, which you hear often in radio plays, but it was overused. Otherwise it was a fun listen. Great job, cast.

Ultimately, the story is about recognizing what is important to us, making amends as needed, and choosing to be the best person one can be. The story has a lot of heart and was perfect for this season of Thanksgiving. Thanks to Billy Crystal and Audible.

[Book Club Mom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have a Nice Day is a play, but this version is a live script-reading that was held earlier this fall in New York. In addition to the headliners, the cast is full of stars, including Rachel Dratch and Darrell Hammond.

Dick Cavett is the narrator and Kevin Kline plays President David Murray, who has just received a visit from the Angel of Death, played by Billy Crystal. Murray learns that this is his day to die and he makes a deal with the Angel to give him until one second before midnight so he can finish strong. What to do? Will he go to his wife, Katherine, played by Annette Bening, his teenage daughter who’s about to graduate high school, or will he continue to lobby against a pipeline bill? In the rush to make sense of the day, Murray struggles with his decisions.

I wondered if this story would be loaded with political commentary. It is not – thank goodness!

Funny and moving, with a feel-good finish, Have a Nice Day is a great way to make a brief escape from the holiday season and the current world. It’s a quick listen and is currently available on Amazon Audible.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent fare. This play was a little slow getting going, but it picked up speed as it went and ended decently strong.

The strong points were the depictions of the relationships and its use of about the right dose of humor. The plot was sound enough for a comedy and the message was sweet, without becoming too saccharine.

On the other hand, the depiction of the presidency was pretty cliche. Something that would have flown in the early 90s like in Kevin Kline’s earlier film “Dave.” In fact, I was questioning the whole time whether this really needed to star a fictional POTUS. A congressman, senator, or high powered business CEO may have been an even more potent story; it would also have hit closer to home (like “Death of a Salesman.”)

As is, it was fine. A decent way to pass an hour and a half while preparing a meal or while working out at the gym.

[Sidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! All star cast featuring Kevin Kline, Annette Benning, and Billy Crystal. POTUS (Kline) is visited by an Angel of Death (Crystal) telling him he has until midnight to live. While the Pres is trying to live his last day to the fullest, staff thinks he's losing it when they witness him talking to himself (actually talking to Crystal's character, the Angel of Death). The First Lady (Benning) goes along with the craziness only to find out it's possibly real. Fun listen; free on Audible.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

On Audible, with so many voices I appreciate, this is a sweet, and sweetly done little play. There's nothing surprising or very deep in it; it's just comfort food. The people are nice, the lessons are pat, the jokes are gentle. I listened to it the day of the midterm election, while preparing dinner and baking banana bread, and that was just about perfect.

[Anton Nikolov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and really nice story about the importance of living a good life full of love towards the people around you. Really nice play from the actors in the story. I think the book is only in audio format. It is a nice mix of humor and good life lessons.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, funny surprise!

[Lisa Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, funny, short, and definitely worth a listen.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pleasant and enjoyable Free Audible original written by and starring Billy Crystal and others in a read play.

[Lynn Cahoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would you do if you knew it was your last day on earth? Would it change if you were the president of USA? Billy Crystal plays the angel of death and helps David through his day.

[Hayat · Rating 3 out of 5]

a short audible play, full of humour (although the humour was a bit stilted at times) but I enjoyed it. Billy Crystal is amazing here.

[Tricia Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun really quick read that will make you smile, laugh and cry.