Othello on Broadway has seriously A-list cast and guests at long-awaited premiere – The Mirror

Othello has just hit Broadway for a 15-week run, and it has a jaw-dropping cast. The play is taking place at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York, running up until June 8.

The Shakespeare adaptation premiered on Sunday, March 23, led by legendary actor Denzel Washington in the starring role.

Denzel, 70, isn’t the only huge name in the play, with Donnie Darko and Road House star Jake Gyllenhaal, 44, playing opposite him as Iago. Photos from the first night show the duo on stage together after the curtain call, smiling hugely after their huge success – while even more celebs gathered on the red carpet before and after the show.

Both stars wear military uniforms in the play, with the new take on Othello being set in ‘the near future,’ and giving a different twist on the Bard’s original.

British star Molly Osborne – known for BBC hit Call the Midwife – joins Snow White’s Andrew Burnap on stage with the main duo, alongside Kimber Elayne Sprawl, Anthony Michael Lopez, Rob Heaps, Daniel Pearce, Julee Cerda, Kimber Elayne Sprawl, Ezra Knight, Gene Gillette, Neal Bledsoe, William Connell, Daniel Reece, Ty Fanning, Christina Sajous, Ben Graney, Greg Wood, and Abiola Obatolu.

Considering how many big names there are in Othello – and how many people would come just to see Denzel alone – the play has caught some flak for its high ticket prices.

Those who want to sit at the orchestra level can expect to pay between $216 and $921 (around £713) for their tickets, which are already very hard for theatre fans to get their hands on thanks to huge demand for seats.

The eyebrow-raising ticket costs didn’t stop plenty of A-list stars from showing up to watch the premiere. Former president Joe Biden and his wife Jill caught the show alongside actors Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett, Colman Domingo and Jennifer Lopez, with even Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour spent her evening at the theatre.

Despite the huge attention on his performance, Denzel revealed that he doesn’t see himself as a ‘Hollywood actor’ decades into his career.

Speaking on CBS’ Sunday Morning during an interview with Jake, he shared: “”I’m a stage actor who does film; it’s not the other way around.

“I did stage first. I learned how to act on stage, not on film. Movies are a filmmaker’s medium. You shoot it, and then you’re gone and they cut together and add music and do all of that. Theatre is an actor’s medium. The curtain goes up, nobody can help you.”

The Academy Award winner also reflected on returning to Othello after playing the role aged 22, and said that he’d worked his “whole career for this moment.”

“It’s fascinating to have been too young for the part, and some may say now too old. But 48 years of experience, so 48 years of pain and pleasure and life has informed my approach to playing the role,” he said of the full-circle event.