Bill Burr Has Only Been on Broadway for 11 Days and He's Already Been Heckled: 'Nuts!'

03/21/2025 01:03 PM

'Glengarry Glen Ross' began previews on March 10 at the Palace Theatre in New York City

The neon lights are bright on Broadway — and the people are loud!

Bill Burr, who is making his Broadway debut in the starry revival of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross, opened up during a March 18 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonabout dealing with a particularly vocial audience member. 

The experience happened not long after the show began previews on March 10 at the Palace Theatre in New York City. "I did have one psycho yell out one night," the actor recalled to Fallon. "He was acting like [Robert] De Niro in Cape Fear. He was screaming like he was in the movie theater. ... He was nuts!"

Burr, 56, went on to explain that he didn't know what the man was yelling, but that while signing Playbills after the show at the stage door, he heard the heckler proudly scream, "I was the guy who yelled!"

Ultimately, the loud disruption threw him off during the scene, Burr admitted. But looking back, he takes it with a grain of salt.

"Those things all become blessings when they happen. You learn to handle them. You mess up a line, your scene partner helps you out," he shared. "My first scene is with Michael McKean, he's incredible. Probably the hardest part of doing that scene is not thinking, 'I'm here with Michael McKean!' because he's so generous the way he throws the ball back and forth."

Related: George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Sarah Snook and All the Celebrities Leading Broadway's Starriest Season Yet

Of course, Burr — with his years of standup success — is used to dealing with hecklers. But unlike comedy shows, Broadway is not known for its hecklers.

That doesn't mean audience members haven't gotten notably rowdy over the years, however. In 2022, a production of the Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman was interrupted by a member of the audience approaching the stage and engaging with the cast. And just last year, an audience member was ejected from a performance of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club for walking onstage and grabbing Eddie Redmayne's skirt during the number "Two Ladies."

Activists have also interjected during performance before, including antisemitic protesters who crashed the first preview performance of the 2023 Broadway revival of Parade. Two similar issues happened in 2024. Climate protestors were removed from the theater after disrupting a performance of the Broadway revival of An Enemy of the People, as were a group of self-identified "radical, anti-racist, queer feminists" who protested the musical Suffs.

Related: Bill Burr Says Nights After Performing in Broadway's Glengarry Glen Ross Are 'Grueling': 'Now What Do I Do?' 

Still, that remains a rare experience among Broadway audiences, even for Burr.

"I'm finding the crowds are really nice," Burr said on The Tonight Show of his experience in Glengarry Glen Ross.

He noted that the Broadway audience is different from what he's previously experienced through standup comedy. saying that theatergoers are "smart" and "want to be there."

As for his days as a comedian, Burr said of the tough crowd, "Half the time they didn't know there was going to be a show. They shut off a game and everyone's throwing stuff at you. Whenever I get in front of a crowd, I worry that's what it's going to be. It took a couple of nights and I'm like, 'Oh wow, they're just, like, listening.' "

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Directed by Tony Award-winner Patrick Marber, Glengarry Glen Ross takes place over two days in "a cutthroat Chicago real estate office, where four salespeople compete to sell mostly worthless properties to unwitting customers," according to an official synopsis. The stakes are high as the person who sells the most will win a car, while the one who sells the least will lose their job.

Starring in the production alongside Burr are Oscar and Emmy winner Kieran Culkin, Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk and Grammy winner McKean. Also in the cast are stage stars Donald Webber, Jr. and Howard W. Overshown, as well as screen regular John Pirruccello.

"It's been a great crew," Burr said. "We're just busting chops over there, having a good time."

Glengarry Glen Ross opens on March 31, for a run scheduled through June 28

Tickets are now on sale.

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