Video: Stars Walk the Red Carpet at OTHELLO Opening Night
Mar 25, 2025
Watch video highlights from the star-studded red carpet, which included special guests Jamie Lee Curtis, Danielle Brooks, Blair Underwood, Coleman Domingo, Al Roker, Liev Schreiber, Rosie Perez and many more!
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
I've never been to the opening of a Broadway play, let alone Shakespeare, let alone starring my godson and Denzel
0:09
And so, for me, it's just, I'm giddy. Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
0:16
Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhall are opening tonight in Kenny Leon's new production of Othello, and we're here with the first-nighters
0:23
You go first, you're living with it. We are so excited. It's been like, I think the biggest day of the..
0:29
year. It's going to be. So I think we're all together. It's the best part of it. We get
0:36
to be with family and friends. So our hearts are full, yeah
0:40
Well, I'm from California. I'm rarely in New York City. I'm never at the opening of a
0:45
Broadway play. I've never been to the opening of a Broadway play
0:50
let alone Shakespeare, let alone starring my god's son and Denzel. And so, for me
0:58
it's just, I'm giddy. I'm a little giddy. And, you know, sort of Hamish, too
1:04
I'm, like, proud. I've known him since he was a boy. And I've watched him become a man
1:09
And then I'm going to watch him elevate the art form tonight on stage
1:14
And I already know. I already know, but I don't know. You know what I mean
1:19
Like I, Yago is one of the great characters ever written. And I get to watch someone at the sort of peak of this
1:29
their artistic integrity take it on in a big effing way Denzo Washington is a master of this craft He a dear friend and my brother and I can wait to support him tonight truly
1:42
Yeah, and Jake. Jake is a good guy. Oh, this is great
1:46
I mean, I'm back home. I'm in the theater tonight to get to watch the goat
1:51
to the greatest of all time, Mr. Denzel Washington. So I'm super excited. And to get to support Kenny Leon, but I've worked with twice now
1:58
and did Shakespeare with much to do about nothing in the park. So I'm really excited about seeing what they put together today
2:04
No, it's exciting because you have something that's, I mean, Broadway's been around since really since the 1800s
2:09
So whenever you can kind of infuse new energy, new joy, new interest in this medium of theater, but theater on this level
2:15
Broadway said a whole different thing. And I have to mention my boy, a friend of mine, Neil Bledsoe is in the play tonight, too
2:19
So I'm excited for him his Broadway debut. You know what? I think this is great. You know, bringing Jake and Denzel in, and it's a whole new generation coming to Broadway
2:28
We need that. It's fresh blood. It's fresh. It's fresh dreams. So this is everything that we need
2:35
I'm loving it. I am so, so excited. First of all, if Denzel is in anything
2:41
he can read the phone book. I'm coming. So I'm thrilled. It's really, I mean
2:45
just one of the classic Shakespeare plays of all time to be able to see him doing this
2:50
is just going to be thrilling. And Jake Gyllenhaal, I mean, it's just a great cast
2:54
I think that as we become more consumed with our devices, and it's important that we have this continuum of literature
3:03
that we reach back to that reminds us of our potential And I think that that what Shakespeare does You know the average person has a 6 vocabulary Shakespeare was I think 24 26
3:20
And so we can expand on that. And I think that's what these plays do
3:25
They ask you to expand your range of language and imagination. And if we're all just like doing half-hour sitcom
3:37
which are wonderful, it limits our range. And I think that that's what I love
3:44
I also love the fact that I can do something that somebody else did 400 years ago
3:49
There's something about being a part of that continuum that feels special to me. Every time someone reinterprets a piece
3:54
and especially something as tried and true and tested as Shakespeare, it's always something fresh and new
4:00
That's the beauty of live theater. So I can't wait to see. I've heard a few things
4:05
I'm not going to spoiler alert, but I've heard a few things about, the time period, the setting, you know, where they've set it, I'm just so curious to see how the
4:13
themes of this show resonate, okay, right now. It's so interesting that this was written hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and Mr. Shakespeare
4:23
could have written this yesterday. Yeah, the past is prologue, my friend. The past is prologue, for sure
4:28
What I love about this show is there's a younger audience coming to this show that has never experienced
4:33
theater before, like we all did, but we first started out. What that means to you as an artist
4:38
Everything because we need to get out of the house and support art you know away from our couches And it fantastic that you know streaming services provide so much material for all of us to see But you know we tribal We human beings that need to be around each other and need to
4:57
uplift each other. And that's what Broadway does, you know. And so it's just really heartwarming
5:03
to see the excitement over this one play. It's really amazing. You've worked with Kenny Leon numerous
5:09
times with the director. What's it like collaborating with him on a project
5:13
Oh, Kenny is an amazing collaborator and, you know, so respectful, warm
5:19
We did Raisin in the Sun on Broadway. We also did The Wiz Live for NBC, you know, and had a ball with that
5:28
So, you know, Kenny is, you know, he's a king. He's, you know, he is top, you know, and, you know, I always love working with him
5:36
You know what's great about this show, it's introducing a whole new younger audience, not only to the theater, but to Shakespeare and what that means to as artists
5:43
us, young people like us. It's great. It's great to keep having younger
5:47
people come to the theater, and that's why it's so important, I think, to reinvent Shakespeare
5:52
and bring him back in different ways in ways that are more
5:57
more, what's the word, relevant. That's exactly the word. I married her
6:02
To the Times. And to see where they're going with it, right? You have to embrace it. It's theirs
6:07
It's all of ours. Shakespeare's for everybody, and they're for artists for everybody. And what do
6:11
they want to say through? What do they, messages, are they that we don't even see yet. And that's what's exciting about all of this
6:17
as we look to a new theater and our voices coming forward with just different perspectives
6:22
The more, the better. The more the better
#Celebrities & Entertainment News
#Performing Arts
#Acting & Theater
#Live Comedy
#Drama Films
#Musical Films
#Broadway & Musical Theater


