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Long Runs on Broadway
By Ernio Hernandez
13 Oct 2009
Several current Broadway shows are in the process of breaking records on the all time long-run list. Here are the standings for number of performances of current and former Broadway shows as of Oct. 11, 2009. The list includes all Broadway shows that have run more than 800 performances. All totals are for the original Broadway run, except where otherwise noted. Shows marked with an asterisk (*) are still running.
* "The Phantom of the Opera" 9027
"Cats" 7485
"Les Misérables" 6680
"A Chorus Line" 6137
"Oh! Calcutta!" (Revival) 5959
"Beauty and the Beast" 5461
* "Chicago" (Revival) 5356
"Rent" 5124 (closed 9/7/08)
* "The Lion King" 4941
"Miss Saigon" 4097
"42nd Street" 3486
"Grease" 3388
* "Mamma Mia!" 3304
"Fiddler on the Roof" 3242
"Life With Father" 3224
"Tobacco Road" 3182
"Hello, Dolly!" 2844
"My Fair Lady" 2717
"Hairspray" 2641 (closed 1/4/09)
"Avenue Q" 2534
(closed 9/13/09)
"The Producers" 2502
* "Wicked" 2462
"Cabaret" (Revival) 2378
"Annie" 2377
"Man of La Mancha" 2328
"Abie's Irish Rose" 2327
"Oklahoma!" 2212
"Smokey Joe's Cafe" 2036
"Pippin" 1944
"South Pacific" 1925
"The Magic Show" 1920
"Aida" 1852
"Gemini" 1819
"Deathtrap" 1793
"Harvey" 1775
"Dancin'" 1774
"La Cage Aux Folles" 1761
"Hair" 1750
"The Wiz" 1672
"Born Yesterday" 1642
"The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" 1639
"Crazy for You" 1622
* "Jersey Boys" 1619
"Ain't Misbehavin'" 1604
"Monty Python's Spamalot" 1574 (closed 1/11/09)
"Mary, Mary" 1572
"Evita" 1567
"The Voice of the Turtle" 1557
"Jekyll & Hyde" 1543
"Barefoot in the Park" 1530
"Brighton Beach Memoirs" 1530
"42nd Street" (Revival) 1524
"Dreamgirls" 1522
"Mame" 1508
"Grease!" (Revival) 1501
"Same Time, Next Year" 1453
"Arsenic and Old Lace" 1444
"The Sound of Music" 1443
"Me and My Girl" 1420
"How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" 1417
"Hellzapoppin" 1404
"The Music Man" 1375
"Funny Girl" 1348
"Mummenschanz" 1326
"Oh! Calcutta!" 1314
"Movin' Out" 1303
"Angel Street" 1295
"Lightnin'" 1291
"Promises, Promises" 1281
"The King and I" 1246
"Cactus Flower" 1234
"Sleuth" 1222
"Torch Song Trilogy" 1222
"1776" 1217
* "Mary Poppins" 1213
"Equus" 1209
"Sugar Babies" 1208
"Guys and Dolls" 1200
"Amadeus" 1181
"Cabaret" 1165
"Mister Roberts" 1157
"Annie Get Your Gun" 1147
"Guys and Dolls" (Revival) 1144
"The Seven Year Itch" 1141
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" 1136
"Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk" 1130
"Butterflies Are Free" 1128
"Pins and Needles" 1108
"Fosse" 1100
"Plaza Suite" 1097
"They're Playing Our Song" 1082
"Grand Hotel" 1077
"Kiss Me, Kate" 1070
"Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" 1065
"The Pajama Game" 1063
"Shenandoah" 1050
"Annie Get Your Gun" (Revival) 1046
"The Teahouse of the August Moon" 1027
"Damn Yankees" 1019
"Contact" 1010
"Never Too Late" 1007
"Big River" 1005
"The Will Rogers Follies" 983
"Any Wednesday" 982
"Sunset Boulevard" 977
"Urinetown" 965
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" 964
"The Odd Couple" 964
"Anna Lucasta" 957
"Kiss and Tell" 956
"Show Boat" (Revival) 951
"Dracula" (Revival) 925
"Bells Are Ringing" 924
"The Moon Is Blue" 924
"Beatlemania" 920
"Proof" 917
"The Elephant Man" 916
"The Color Purple" 910
"Kiss of the Spider Woman" 906
"Thoroughly Modern Millie" 904
"Luv" 901
"The Who's Tommy" 900
"Chicago" 898
"Applause" 896
"Can-Can" 892
"Carousel" 890
"I'm Not Rappaport" 890
"Hats Off to Ice" 889
"Fanny" 888
"Children of a Lesser God" 887
"Kiss Me, Kate" (Revival) 885
"Follow the Girls" 882
"City of Angels" 878
"Camelot" 873
"I Love My Wife" 872
"The Bat" 867
"My Sister Eileen" 864
"No, No, Nanette" (Revival) 861
"Ragtime" 861
"Song of Norway" 860
"Spring Awakening" 859 (closed 1/18/09)
"Chapter Two" 857
"A Streetcar Named Desire" 855
"Barnum" 854
"Comedy in Music" 849
"Raisin" 847
"Blood Brothers" 839
"You Can't Take It With You" 837
"La Plume de Ma Tante" 835
"Three Men on a Horse" 835
"The Subject Was Roses" 832
"Black and Blue" 824
"The King and I" (Revival) 807
"Inherit the Wind" 806
"Anything Goes" (Revival) 804
"Titanic" 804
SOME OTHER CURRENT BROADWAY SHOWS
"The 39 Steps" 667
"August: Osage County" 648 (closed 6/28/09)
"South Pacific" 637
These figures come from The Broadway League and "The Otis Guernsey/Burns Mantle Theatre Yearbook: The Best Plays of 2000-2001," edited by Otis L. Guernsey Jr., as updated by Playbill.com. The totals for number of performances do not include previews. For comparison, Broadway shows generally play eight performances a week, or about 416 performances per year.
LONG RUNS OFF-BROADWAY (as of Jan. 11, 2007 unless noted)
"The Fantasticks" 17,162
*"Perfect Crime" 8,021
*"Blue Man Group: Tubes" 8,006
*"Stomp" 5,418
*"Tony n' Tina's Wedding" 4,905 (as of May 1, 2004)
*"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" 4,345
"Nunsense" 3,672
"Threepenny Opera" 2,611
"De La Guarda" 2,475
"Forbidden Broadway (1982-87)" 2,332
"Little Shop of Horrors" 2,209
LONG RUNS IN OTHER CITIES
Here are the long-run records in selected other cities. Performance schedules
vary:
BOSTON: Shear Madness; Opened January 29, 1980 at the Charles
Playhouse, 11,303 performances as of Jan. 17, 2007.
CHICAGO: Shear Madness; Opened Sept. 22, 1982 at the Mayfair
Theatre, closed, after 7,232 performances, Nov. 11, 1999 when the hotel that housed the theatre closed down. (The show returned to play at the Chicago Theatre Downstairs Sept. 19, 2006.)
LONDON: The Mousetrap; Opened Nov. 25, 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre. Now at St. Martin's Theatre, 20,913 performances as of Feb. 27, 2003.
TORONTO: The Mousetrap; Opened Aug. 19, 1977 at the Toronto Truck
Theatre, "over 9000 performances" (closed Jan. 18, 2004) according to a
production spokesperson.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Shear Madness; Opened Aug. 12, 1987 at the Theater
Lab Cabaret/JFK Center for the Performing Arts, 8,399 performances as of Jan. 1, 2007.
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