Denzel Washington’s family wouldn’t miss the actor’s Broadway premiere.
His wife Pauletta, along with children Olivia, John David and Katia attended the opening night of the William Shakespeare play Othello on Sunday, March 23. Katia’s wife Colleen Wilson also showed up to support
The family dressed sleekly in all black while being amongst a star-studded audience for the premiere that sees Washington, 70, play the titular general alongside Jake Gyllenhaal playing the villianous Iago.
Along with Washington’s family, the Othello premiere was also attended by Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Spike Lee, Paul Tazewell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Angela Bassett, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Alfre Woodard, Rosie Perez. Cynthia Nixon, Blair Underwood, Joe Morton, Kenan Thompson, Peter Dinklage and Keegan-Michael Key; as well as Jennifer Nettles and Kandi Burruss, who is also a co-producer on Othello.
Jennifer Lopez, Martha Stewart, Deborah Cox, Peter Sarsgaard also hit up the premiere, as well as President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden.
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Othello, directed by Kenny Leon and produced by Brian A. Moreland, is playing a strictly limited 15-week engagement through Sunday, June 8.
In addition to Washington and Gyllenhaal, Othello also stars Molly Osbourne (as Desdemona), Andrew Burnap (as Cassio), Anthony Michael Lopez (as Roderigo), Daniel Pearce (as Brabantio) and Kimber Elayne Sprawl (as Emilia). The cast also features Neal Bledsoe (as The Duke of Venice), Julee Cerda (as Bianca), Ezra Knight (as Montano), Gene Gillette (as Gratiano) and Rob Heaps (as Ludovico).
This is the first time Othello has been on Broadway in over 40 years. The last revival, in 1982, starred James Earl Jones as Othello, Christopher Plummer as Iago and Dianne Wiest as Desdemona.
Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon oversees the production. Lead producer Brian Anthony Moreland spearheaded Othello to the stage, alongside co-producers including Real Housewives of Atlanta alumna Burrus and her husband, Todd Tucker.
Washington made his Broadway debut in 1988’s Checkmates and went on to star as Troy Maxson in the 2001 revival of August Wilson’s play Fences, for which he received a Tony Award. Washington also starred in the 2005 Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Othello has been gaining plenty of buzz ahead of its premiere, including the fact seats are selling as high as $921. The production has already broken box office records, grossing $2.8 million alone last week — more than any play has ever made in 7 days on Broadway.
Tickets for Othello are now on sale.
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