The trajectory of a Broadway show is usually a slow, steady climb as word of mouth builds. And then there's Broadway's new revival of Othello, with some major star power above the title in Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. The Kenny Leon-directed production began at the Barrymore Theatre last week, and in its first seven previews came in as the top-grossing show on Broadway. The Barrymore isn't one of Broadway's particularly large theatres, with a capacity of 1,041 (compare that to the 1,926 capacity at the Gershwin, home to last week's second highest-grossing show Wicked).
But Othello's ticket prices are making sure that's not a problem at all, as did the fact that it was completely sold out. Those tickets topped out at $897, but the average paid ticket price last week was a jaw-dropping $361.90, besting the second highest average鈥�The Outsiders with $155.02鈥攂y more than $200.
The show beat four separate house records at the Barrymore, blasting weekly records for the top-grossing musical (The Band's Visit in 2017, earning $1.56 million in a nine-performance week), the top-grossing musical during an eight-performance week (Waitress in 2021, taking $1.56 million), the top-grossing play (Betrayal in 2013, bringing in $1.44 million with a nine-performance week), and the top-grossing play during an eight-performance week (A Raisin in the Sun in 2014, bringing in $1.3 million).
Suffice it to say, if Othello is pulling those sales before many people have even seen the show, we can likely expect the Brian Anthony Moreland-produced revival to remain atop the list of top grossers in the week ahead.
And, luckily, Broadway is happy to be seeing the new cash influx. We've been experiencing a particularly sleepy winter season. While that's not exactly surprising (tourism typically picks up once schools begin going on spring break), we did see a 3% fall at the box office cumulatively last week, and that's with one additional show compared to the week prior. The 27 currently running plays and musicals brought in $27 million, with overall capacity dropping below 90% for the first time in a bit, to 88%. In total, 228,794 tickets were sold on Broadway last week at an average price of $118.14, down $2.40 from the week prior鈥攁nd, of course, one can imagine how much Othello's figures helped that average.
Othello dethroned usual top grosser Wicked, which nevertheless came in at number two as fans headed to the Gershwin to see the final performances of outgoing stars Mary Kate Morrisey and Alexandra Socha (Lencia Kebede and Allie Trimm take over as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, beginning tonight, with Kebede becoming the first Black actor to play the role full-time on Broadway). The musical brought in $2.37 million, with the rest of the top five filled out by usual suspects Hamilton, The Lion King, and The Outsiders.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Othello ($2.64 million)
- Wicked ($2.37 million)
- Hamilton
- The Lion King
- The Outsiders
- Gypsy
- Aladdin
- MJ The Musical
- Cabaret
- Sunset Boulevard
- Death Becomes Her
(11 of 27 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- The Outsiders (101.09%)
- Operation Mincemeat (100%)
- Othello (100%)
- Wicked (100%)
- English
- Hamilton
- & Juliet
- Purpose
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Aladdin
- The Lion King
- Buena Vista Social Club
- Hadestown
- Cabaret
- Death Becomes Her
- The Book of Mormon
(16 of 27 currently running productions)
