Long-running musical theatre productions

This is a selected list of the longest-running musical theatre productions in history divided into two sections. The first section lists all Broadway and West End productions of musicals that have exceeded 2,500 performances, in order of greatest number of performances in either market. The second section lists, in alphabetical order, musicals that have broken historical long run records for musical theatre on Broadway, in the West End or Off-Broadway, since 1866, in alphabetical order.

Legend:
m = music, l = lyrics, b = book
(Noteworthy trivia appear in parentheses)
(5,678) = number of performances (in original Broadway production if not specified)
> denotes shows that are still in production. The number of Broadway performances is updated per Playbill.com as of October 2024. The number of West End performances is updated per officiallondontheatre.com as of October 2023, and sporadically as information becomes available.
"Tony Award winner" denotes winner of Tony for Best Musical
"Olivier Award winner" denotes winner of award for Best New Musical

Longest-running musicals on Broadway and the West End

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The following is a list of musical theatre productions that have exceeded 2,500 performances in a single run in a Broadway or West End theatre.

Title Creators Broadway Perfs. West End Perfs. Comment
Les Misérables m Claude-Michel Schönberg, lb Alain Boublil (English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer) 6,680 >15,400 1985 London, 1987 Broadway
(1987 Tony Award winner; nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won eight)
The Phantom of the Opera m Andrew Lloyd Webber, l Charles Hart, b Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe 13,981 >15,100 1986 London, 1988 Broadway
(the longest-running musical in Broadway history since surpassing Cats; 1988 Tony Award winner)[1]
Chicago m John Kander, l Fred Ebb, b Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb >10,900 6,187 1996 Revival
(longest-running American musical in both West End and Broadway history, surpassing A Chorus Line in 2011, and the longest-running revival in Broadway history)
The Lion King m Elton John, l Tim Rice, b Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi >10,500 >9,800 1997 Broadway, 1999 London
(1998 Tony Award winner)
Mamma Mia! ml Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, b Catherine Johnson 5,773 >10,100 1999 London, 2001 Broadway
Blood Brothers mlb Willy Russell 839 10,013 1983 London, 1993 Broadway
(1983 Olivier Award winner; longest-running musical revival in history)
Cats m Andrew Lloyd Webber, l T. S. Eliot, b Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn ("Memory") 7,485 8,949 1981 London, 1982 Broadway
(1983 Tony Award winner, the longest-running work of musical theatre (other than The Fantasticks), until beaten by Les Misérables)
Wicked ml Stephen Schwartz, b Winnie Holzman >8,100 >6,900 2003 Broadway, 2006 London
Starlight Express m Andrew Lloyd Webber, l Richard Stilgoe (with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek; through composed; staged with the cast entirely on skates) 761 7,406 1984 London, 1987 Broadway, 1988 Bochum, Germany
>10,000 in Germany[2]
Black and White Minstrels mlb George Mitchell N/A 6,477 1960 London
This minstrel show (a revue) was in The Guinness Book of Records as the stage show seen by the largest number of people and had international fame
(the longest-running work of musical theatre (other than The Fantasticks), until beaten by Cats)
A Chorus Line m Marvin Hamlisch, l Edward Kleban, b James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante 6,137 969 1975 Broadway, 1976 London
(the longest-running Broadway musical in history, until beaten by Cats)
(1976 Tony Award winner)
Oh! Calcutta! m Peter Schickele (aka “PDQ Bach”), Robert Dennis and Stanley Walden, lb various 5,959 3,918 1969 Broadway, 1970 London
1976 Broadway revival
(nude revue)
Beauty and the Beast m Alan Menken, l Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, b Linda Woolverton 5,461 1,077 1994 Broadway, 1997 London
(1998 Olivier Award winner)
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story ml Buddy Holly and others, b Alan Janes 225 5,140 1989 London, 1990 Broadway
Rent mlb Jonathan Larson 5,123 c. 600 1996 Broadway, 1998 London
(Pulitzer Prize Winner, 1996 Tony Award winner)
The Book of Mormon mlb Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone >4,900 >4,100 2011 Broadway, 2013 London
(2011 Tony Award winner; won 9 Tonys)
Matilda the Musical ml Tim Minchin, b Dennis Kelly 1,554 >4,700 2011 London, 2013 Broadway
We Will Rock You m Queen, lb Ben Elton and Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor N/A 4,659 2002 London
Thriller – Live ml The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson, b Adrian Grant N/A 4,657 2009 London
Jersey Boys m Bob Gaudio, l Bob Crewe, b Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice 4,642 3,787 2005 Broadway, 2008 London
(2005 Tony Award winner; 2008 Olivier Award winner)
Billy Elliot the Musical m Elton John, lb Lee Hall 1,304 4,566 2005 London, 2008 Broadway
(2006 Olivier Award winner; 2009 Tony Award winner, won 10 of 15 Tony nominations)
Miss Saigon m Claude-Michel Schönberg, l Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.,b Alain Boublil 4,092 4,264 1989 London, 1991 Broadway
(adaptation of Puccini's Madame Butterfly)
Aladdin m Alan Menken, l Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin, b Beguelin >3,700 1,361 2014 Broadway
Avenue Q ml Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, b Jeff Whitty 2,534 3,586 2003 Broadway, 2006 London
(2004 Tony Award winner)
42nd Street m Harry Warren, l Al Dubin, b Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble 3,486 1,824 1980 Broadway, 1984 London
(1981 Tony Award winner; 1984 Olivier Award winner)
Grease mlb Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey 3,388 2,529 1972 Broadway, 1973 London
(the longest-running Broadway musical in history, until beaten by A Chorus Line)
Jesus Christ Superstar m Andrew Lloyd Webber, lb Tim Rice 720 3,357 1971 Broadway, 1972 London
(seminal rock opera and briefly the longest-running musical in history (not counting Black and White Minstrels or The Fantasticks), until beaten by Grease)
Me and My Girl m Noel Gay, lb Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose 1,420 3,303 1985 revival
(originally ran 1,646 performances from 1937, which was unusual at the time) (1985 Olivier Award winner) (In 1937, with World War II impending, The Times famously used its hit song in a headline: "While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances – to 'The Lambeth Walk'.")
Fiddler on the Roof m Jerry Bock, l Sheldon Harnick, b Joseph Stein ("If I Were a Rich Man") 3,242 2,030 1964 Broadway, 1967 London
(the longest-running Broadway musical in history, until beaten by Grease)
(1965 Tony Award winner)
Evita m Andrew Lloyd Webber, l Tim Rice 1,567 3,176 1978 London, 1979 Broadway
(last collaboration between Lloyd Webber and Rice on a musical)
(1978 Olivier Award winner; 1980 Tony Award winner)[3]
Hamilton mlb Lin-Manuel Miranda >3,100 >2,000 2015 Broadway, 2017 London (2016 Tony Award winner, 16 Tony Award nominations, won 11) (2018 Olivier Award winner)
The Rocky Horror Show mlb Richard O'Brien 45 2,958 1973 London, 1975 Broadway
Hello, Dolly! ml Jerry Herman, b Michael Stewart 2,844 794 1964 Broadway, 1965 London
(the second longest-running Broadway musical in history until Grease pushed it down a rank)
(1964 Tony Award winner; won 10 Tonys)
My Fair Lady m Frederick Loewe, lb Alan Jay Lerner ("I Could Have Danced All Night", "On the Street Where You Live") 2,717 2,281 1956 Broadway, 1958 London
(the longest-running musical in history, until beaten by The Fantasticks off-Broadway and Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway)
(the second-longest-running musical in West End history, after Salad Days, when it closed) (1957 Tony Award winner)
Hairspray m Marc Shaiman, l Shaiman and Scott Wittman, b Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan 2,642 c. 1,000 2002 Broadway, 2007 London
(2003 Tony Award Winner, nominated for 13, won eight) (2008 Olivier Award Winner, nominated for 11, won 4)
Mary Poppins ml Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, b Julian Fellowes 2,619 1,428 2004 London, 2006 Broadway
Oliver! mlb Lionel Bart 774 2,618 1960 London, 1963 Broadway
(longest-running West End musical in history at the time of closing)
Kinky Boots ml Cyndi Lauper, b Harvey Fierstein 2,507 1,400+ 2013 Broadway, 2015 London (2013 Tony Award winner, 13 Tony Award nominations, won 6) (2016 Olivier Award winner)
The Producers ml Mel Brooks, b Brooks and Thomas Meehan 2,502 940 2001 Broadway, 2004 London
(2001 Tony Award winner; won a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards)

Other historic long runs

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The following is an annotated alphabetical list of other musicals that set records for long runs.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ DiLella, Frank. "Phantom Celebrates Its Silver Anniversary On Broadway" Archived 2013-02-08 at the Wayback Machine, NY1, January 27, 2013
  2. ^ Thöne, Martina. "25 Jahre Starlight Express: Musicalerfolg tief im Westen", WZ Newsline, 11 June 2013
  3. ^ Exact number came from musicalheaven.com and This Is Theatre; 2900 given by Society of London Theatre is an estimate.

References

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