Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal’s ‘Othello’ breaks ‘Harry Potter’s’ Broadway record
- Share via
In its second week of preview performances, a revival of Shakespeare’s “Othello” set a new record for weekly grosses on Broadway, bringing in $2,818,297 for eight shows.
Starring Denzel Washington in the title role and Jake Gyllenhaal as the manipulative Iago, the production played to 100% capacity for each of its eight shows last week, filling every single seat in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, according to Playbill.
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” was the previous record holder, having grossed $2,718,488 for the holiday week ending Dec. 31, 2023, according to the theater magazine.
Playing Macbeth in his later years resonated with the actor. But he’s ready for what comes next. The actor sees himself as a work in progress.
The average ticket price for the record-breaking week was $338.09, which is considerably higher than every other show on Broadway. The average show costs about $100. The top ticket for “Othello” commanded $897.
The revival, which officially opens March 23, is a strictly limited engagement, running for 15 weeks through June 8.
Tony Award winner Kenny Leon directs the show, coming off of the success of another buzzy revival, “Our Town” starring Jim Parsons, Zoey Deutch and Katie Holmes.
New Broadway revivals of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Blvd,” Shakespeare’s “Romeo + Juliet” and Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” test how far these works can be refashioned for modern sensibilities
Washington has starred in multiple Broadway productions, including “Julius Caesar,” “Fences,” “A Raisin in the Sun” and “The Iceman Cometh.” He won a Tony Award for “Fences” and was nominated for his performance in “The Iceman Cometh.”
Gyllenhaal also has appeared in several Broadway shows, most notably the title role of painter Georges Seurat in the 2017 revival of “Sunday in the Park With George.” He was nominated for a Tony award in 2020 for his performance in “Sea Wall/A Life.”
