Five decades into his career, and Denzel Washington is still breaking Broadway records

Over the course of his career, Denzel has tackled many of Shakespeare’s famous works both onstage and on film, having earned a having earned an Oscar nom for his commanding take on the titular regent in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth in 2022. Right now, he is starring in the Kenny Leon-directed Othello on Broadway. Despite not being on stage since 2018, he’s still got it. In fact, he’s such a draw, that the production recently made Broadway history.

Othello comes out swinging

Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhall as rivals Othello and Iago, began previews on Broadway on Feb. 24. The performance of one of William Shakespeare’s most prominent works has been a hit since its first week, when it held the top ticketing price at a whopping $361.90 per ticket. The play went on to break records in its second week of previews. It is now the top-grossing eight-performance play in Broadway history. 

Washington and Gyllenhall’s combined star power might have contributed to the record-breaking success of the show, but there has also been a recently renewed mainstream interest in Broadway and the theatre. Othello is also one of the most iconic works of Shakespeare. Additionally, Washington and Gyllenhall are great picks for Othello and Iago, respectively.

Othello officially opens on Broadway on Sunday, March 23, and will run until Sunday, June 8 at the Barrymore Theatre. 

Othello saw a weekly gross of $2,818,297 last week, taking the crown for the top-grossing week ever on Broadway. The record was previously held by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which grossed a total of $2,718,488 in the last week of December 2023. It was clear that Othello was going to beat this record from its first week when it grossed $2,637,158. As such, it was already drawing near to the record set by Harry Potter in just a week. In its record-breaking week, ticket prices also went down from $361.90 to $338.09, making the gross total even more impressive. 

Denzel’s final roles?

Denzel Washington might be more selective about the projects he works on now, but at age 70 and nearly five decades into his career, Gladiator II. Before that, he took Robert McCall’s story to new heights in The Equalizer 3 and worked as a producer on the supernatural horror, The Piano Lesson. The last time we saw him on stage was in the 2018 production of The Iceman Cometh directed by George C. Wolfe. 

His next project is a crime thriller from Spike Lee titled Highest 2 Lowest. The movie is both a retelling of the 1963 Japanese film High and Low, and a loose adaptation of the 1959 novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain. It will star Washington alongside Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice, and ASAP Rocky.