‘Phantom Of The Opera’ Left Broadway As Longest-Running Musical—Here’s The Entire Top 10

Topline

The Phantom of the Opera staged its final show on Sunday, ending a 35-year, 13,981-show run as Broadway’s longest running production—thousands more performances than any other show in the top ten.

Key Facts

Longest Running Broadway Shows

1. The Phantom of the Opera: 13,981 shows (Opened January 26, 1988 and closed April 16, 2023)
2. Chicago (1996 revival): 10,329 shows (Opened November 14, 1996)
3. The Lion King: 9,944 shows (Opened November 13, 1997)
4. Wicked: 7,485 shows (Opened October 30, 2003)
5. Cats: 7,485 shows (Opened October 7, 1982 and closed September 10, 2000)
6. Les Misérables: 6,680 shows (Opened March 12, 1987 and closed May 18, 2003)
7. A Chorus Line: 6,137 shows (Opened July 25, 1975 and closed April 28, 1990)
8. Oh! Calcutta!: 5,959 shows (Opened September 25, 1976 and closed August 6, 1989)
9. Mamma Mia!: 5,758 shows (Opened October 18, 2001 and closed September 12, 2015)
10. Beauty and the Beast: 5,462 shows (Opened April 18, 1994 and closed July 29, 2007)

News Peg

Phantom shut down on Sunday after 35 years because of lingering damage done by the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation and declining international tourism. The musical had long been a tourist attraction because of its status as an iconic Broadway production. The crowd for the final performance was invitation-only, including actors who had once been in the musical and some fans who had won a lottery. Lloyd Webber delivered a speech after the final curtain, thanking fans for their support and dedicating the show to his son Nick, who died of gastric cancer last month.

Key Background

Phantom, which is based on a 1910 French novel of the same name, follows a masked “phantom” who haunts the Paris Opera and falls in love with a beautiful young soprano. The show first premiered in London in 1986 before opening in New York two years later. The musical spent its entire Broadway run in New York City’s Majestic Theatre, where it became the longest-running Broadway show in 2006 and became the first Broadway production to reach a milestone 10,000th show in 2012. The musical stopped production in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and reopened in October 2021. Coming back from the pandemic was a struggle: While the box office stagnated, production costs rose more than $100,000 per week after the show reopened, making weekly costs about $950,000, producer Cameron Mackintosh told The New York Times.

Tangent

Productions of Phantom are still running in the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea and Sweden, with additional shows set to open in China, Italy and Spain. Phantom is the second-longest running musical in West End history, and it’s the third longest-running West End production overall, behind The Mousetrap and Les Misérables.

Big Number

$1.36 billion. That’s how much the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera grossed. The show sat 20 million people over its 35-year run.

Further Reading

With Cheers and Tears, ‘Phantom of the Opera’ Ends Record Broadway Run (New York Times)

Andrew Lloyd Webber: A Goodbye to ‘Phantom’ (New York Times)

All the Times Phantom of the Opera Made History on Broadway (Playbill)