HISTORY AND OFF-BROADWAY

The Longest-Running Broadway Shows in History

The Phantom of the Opera holds the Broadway performance record at 13,981. Its Broadway run ended in April 2023. Chicago’s 1996 revival leads the active productions in the Broadway League’s May 2026 ranking.

Checked

Leading runs in the Broadway League’s May 2026 snapshot

RankProductionPerformancesProduction notes
1The Phantom of the Opera13,981Original run, closed at 13,981 regular performances.
2Chicago11,632The 1996 revival, counted separately from the 1975 original.
3The Lion King11,257The original Broadway production moved theatres during its run.
4Wicked8,795The original Broadway run at the Gershwin.
5Cats7,485The original Broadway production, closed at 7,485 regular performances.
6Les Misérables6,680The original Broadway production, closed at 6,680 regular performances.

How the count works

Count regular performances for the individual production and read previews as a separate figure. Transfers within a continuous production can be part of the same run. A revival or later return is tracked separately. Counts for open productions continue to change, so use a dated report when comparing ranks or quoting totals.

Sources