OTHELLO Previews

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy…

For the first time in over 40 years, the legendary Shakespeare tragedy Othello returns to Broadway. One of the hottest tickets of the season, it stars Denzel Washington as the titular Moor of Venice, Jake Gyllenhaal as his manipulative lieutenant Iago, and Molly Osborne as Othello’s wife Desdemona. The cast also includes Andrew Burnap, Anthony Michael Lopez, Daniel Pearce, Kimber Elayne Sprawl, Julee Cerda, Neal Bledsoe, Gene Gillette, Rob Heaps, and Ezra Knight. This reimagined Othello — which is reportedly being set in 2028 — begins previews tomorrow night (February 24) and opens on March 23 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre for a limited run through June 8; Kenny Leon directs.

“Spurned for promotion, Iago’s relentless quest for vengeance against Othello and his wife, Desdemona, plunges them into a shocking web of deception and betrayal.”

Who’s going?

Just saw they’re doing the Yonder pouches for this. Guessing it’s not for nudity but time will tell.

Jordan Catalano said: "Just saw they’re doing the Yonder pouches for this. Guessing it’s not for nudity but time will tell."

“Hoping it’s for nudity…” would also be appropriate for this cast.

It's being discussed in the other thread, and someone who was at the invited dress described their experience.

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/thread/Denzel-Washington-to-return-to-Broadway-in-OTHELLO/8#5497280

Meanwhile, on Reddit, someone posted they contacted Telecharge and were told it's because Denzel has its in his contract that they be used/no phones, there are no exceptions, and those who can't or won't use the pouches can get a refund (and so many over there are absolutely furious--and apparently sending abusive DMs to the OP who reported it). If true, either Denzel is disrobing (though you'd think there'd be a nudity warning) or just wants to ensure his performance isn't recorded.

Updated On: 2/23/25 at 05:27 PM

I'm sure it's so the performance isn't recorded.

Was there last night. No issues with locking up my cell phone. Show was pretty cool to me. I have never seen Othello. But it was thrilling. It was a final dress rehearsal. They kept saying family viewing but, I think its feeling very OLD SCHOOl...like they will need preview time. And then hit it out of the park.

Interested to see how this is. We expect Jake and Denzel to be great. Kenny Leon's direction is the big question.

From "The Broadway Show":

Denzel: "And what Kenny is doing...he keeps calling it the 'near future.' So it's cell phones, watches and not in a gimmicky way."

We'll ... see ....

Updated On: 2/23/25 at 07:18 PM

It's in Denzel's contract which was stated above and confirmed by Telecharge. Not out of the ordinary for such a huge celebrity.

Wick3 said: "That's really interesting. He didn't have that in his contract when he starred in ICEMAN COMETH back in 2018.

I'm just doing rush lottery too.

Does Barrymore have standing room?"

For what it's worth, Yondr pouches made their Broadway debut in 2019 -- though invented in 2014, they were primarily used in concert and comedy venues first.

Sutton Ross said: "It's in Denzel's contract which was stated above and confirmed by Telecharge. Not out of the ordinary for such a huge celebrity."

This is the most absurd thing I have read. Totally untrue about Denzel's contract.

Did anyone claim to be in a first name basis with Denzel? I only passed on the info someone on Reddit (who I linked to) said they got from Telecharge, not DW. Maybe it's wrong, maybe the TC agent doesn't know what they're talking about, maybe the production is passing the blame by attributing the requirement with no exceptions to DW. Believe as you will.

Updated On: 2/24/25 at 08:27 AM

I think the babies whining about putting their phones away for 2.5 hours shouldn't be admitted in. If you can't be without your phone screen for that amount of time (the same as many feature films), you shouldn't be going to the theater where it's expected of you.