George Clooney play, star-powered Othello break Broadway box-office records

Broadway box-office records are falling like dominoes this season as a handful of starry plays entice fans to pay sky-high ticket prices to see their favorite movie stars up close and emoting.

- Michael Paulson

Good Night, And Good Luck, a new play starring Hollywood actor George Clooney, grossed US$3.3 million (S$4.4 million) last week, the most money a non-musical play has ever made during a single week on Broadway, according to data released on March 25 by the Broadway League.

And it did so with just a seven-performance week; It is still in previews — opening night is April 10 — and not yet doing Broadway’s typical eight.

It shattered the previous record, which was set just two weeks earlier by a new production of Shakespeare’s Othello starring American actors Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, which grossed US$2.8 million in the week that ended March 9. (Before that, the record had been held by Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, which grossed US$2.7 million during a holiday week in late 2023.)

Othello still has higher ticket prices — its top seats were being sold on its website for US$921, compared with US$799 for Good Night, And Good Luck — but the latter is playing in a larger theatre, so it is taking in more money overall.

The average ticket price for Othello was US$303.15 last week — down from previous weeks because of free seats for journalists attending press performances and guests attending opening night.

The average price for Good Night, And Good Luck was US$302.07.

But this play, which is adapted from the 2005 movie about broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow, is showing in the 1,545-seat Winter Garden Theatre, while Othello is in the 1,043-seat Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

Broadway’s box office has traditionally been dominated by musicals, which tend to be more popular, to play longer and to run in larger theatres than plays.