Othello, the new Broadway production of Shakespeare’s tale of power and envy starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal broke four house records at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre last week, grossing a whopping $2,637,158 for its first seven previews.
The take tops four previous Barrymore records. The Band’s Visit‘s held the biggest nine-performance gross ($1.6M, week ending 12/31/2017); Waitress was tops for a musical, eight performances ($1.6M, 10/10/2021); Betrayal held the nine-performance record for a play ($1.4M, 12/29/2013); and A Raisin In The Sun had the eight-performance record for a play ($1.3M, 6/15/2014).
Othello easily tops the Broadway box office chart for the week ending March 2, with the runner-up being the usual front-runner Wicked, taking $2,368,448 for its eight-performance week.
The chance to see Washington and Gyllenhaal onstage also had ticket-buyers ponying up big time: The average ticket price for the show last week was a very hefty $361.90, far outdistancing the second-most expensive show The Outsiders, which had an average ticket price of $155.02. The average ticket price across all 27 Broadway productions was $118.14.
Othello officially opens March 23 and runs through June 8, and Deadline hears the production has already amassed an advance of more than $27.5M. Kenny Leon is directing, with Brian Anthony Moreland the lead producer.
A full Broadway box office report will be posted shortly.
