“Giant,” a Broadway play starring John Lithgow as Roald Dahl, the popular children’s author who expressed antisemitic views while criticizing Israel, is now officially a hit.
The play’s producers, most of them leading a Broadway production for the first time, announced on Tuesday that the play has now recouped its $5.6 million in capitalization costs. That means the producers can repay investors the money they put up to finance the show, and can start earning and distributing profits.
The show, which focuses on remarks Dahl made while criticizing Israel, made back its money in just 10 weeks, with only seven performances a week for most of those weeks. Most shows take longer to recoup, and have eight performances a week. (“Giant” is planning eight performances a week for the remainder of its run.)
During the week that ended on May 10, “Giant” outgrossed every other new play and new musical that opened this season; its average ticket price was $175.
“The fact that this show was able to be commercially viable is incredibly encouraging to us as new producers of storytelling,” said Dayna Lee, one of the lead producers. “Art doesn’t have to be easy. It doesn’t have to be wrapped up in a bow. It can leave people lingering.”
“Giant,” written by Mark Rosenblatt, takes place in England, on a single afternoon in 1983, and imagines a confrontation between Dahl — the renowned author of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “James and the Giant Peach” and “Matilda” — and his American publisher, worried about how Dahl’s incendiary comments might affect sales of his books.
The play, directed by Nicholas Hytner, was first staged at the Royal Court Theater in London in 2024, and then transferred for a successful commercial run in London’s West End in 2025. The Broadway production, which opened at the Music Box Theater in March to positive reviews, is produced by Brian & Dayna Lee, Stephanie Kramer & Nicole Kramer and Josh Fiedler & Robyn Goodman; it is running until June 28.
“The fact that we have a 16-week run creates a theatrical event with a sense of urgency around it,” Nicole Kramer said. “And, given the topic of the play, the buzz we had from London, and our strategic pricing, we were able to maximize all of that for our Broadway run.”
The show has been nominated for four Tony Awards, including for best play, as well as for Lithgow’s performance, Hytner’s direction, and a featured performance by Aya Cash. The best play race is quite competitive; the other nominees include “Liberation,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, as well as “The Balusters” and “Little Bear Ridge Road.”
“Giant” is the only new play of the current Broadway season to recoup its capitalization costs, at least thus far, but three of this season’s play revivals have also done so: “Art” ($6.75 million), “Waiting for Godot” ($7.5 million) and “Every Brilliant Thing” ($5.75 million). None of the current season’s musicals have reported turning a profit yet.
The producers of “Giant” announced last week that they plan to screen a live-capture of the London production at movie theaters around the world this fall.
Michael Paulson is the theater reporter for The Times.
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