Office Broadway box office desk

Records

Broadway by the numbers.

The runs that never seemed to end, the shows still going, and the houses that hold the most people and the most history.

Last verified

13,981

performances of The Phantom of the Opera

The longest run in Broadway history

1996

opening year of Chicago

The longest-running show still playing

1,933

seats at the Gershwin Theatre

The biggest house in our guide

1903

the Hudson, Lyceum and New Amsterdam opened

The oldest houses in our guide

Longest-running ever

  1. The Phantom of the Opera 13,981 Closed April 16, 2023
  2. Chicago (1996 revival) 11,792 Still running
  3. The Lion King 11,417 Still running
  4. Wicked 8,955 Still running
  5. Cats 7,485 Closed September 10, 2000
The full top 30

Biggest theaters

  1. Gershwin Theatre 1,933 seats The Nederlander Organization
  2. Broadway Theatre 1,763 seats The Shubert Organization
  3. New Amsterdam Theatre 1,747 seats Disney Theatrical Group
  4. Palace Theatre 1,743 seats The Nederlander Organization
  5. Minskoff Theatre 1,710 seats The Nederlander Organization

Last verified

Oldest theaters

  1. Hudson Theatre 1903 975 seats
  2. Lyceum Theatre 1903 922 seats
  3. New Amsterdam Theatre 1903 1,747 seats
  4. Belasco Theatre 1907 1,034 seats
  5. Lunt-Fontanne Theatre 1910 1,519 seats
Every theater

Longest-running still playing

  1. Chicago 11,792 Opened November 14, 1996
  2. The Lion King 11,417 Opened November 13, 1997
  3. Wicked 8,955 Opened October 30, 2003
  4. The Book of Mormon 5,779 Opened March 24, 2011
  5. Aladdin 4,581 Opened March 20, 2014
  6. Hamilton 4,021 Opened August 6, 2015
  7. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 2,788 Opened April 22, 2018
  8. Hadestown 2,492 Opened April 17, 2019
  9. SIX: The Musical 2,081 Opened October 3, 2021
  10. MJ the Musical 1,957 Opened February 1, 2022
  11. & Juliet 1,627 Opened November 17, 2022
  12. The Outsiders 1,042 Opened April 11, 2024
  13. The Great Gatsby 1,028 Opened April 25, 2024
  14. Oh, Mary! 939 Opened July 11, 2024
  15. Maybe Happy Ending 798 Opened November 12, 2024
  16. Buena Vista Social Club 655 Opened March 19, 2025
  17. Operation Mincemeat 653 Opened March 20, 2025
  18. Stranger Things: The First Shadow 611 Opened April 22, 2025
  19. Just in Time 608 Opened April 26, 2025
  20. Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) 372 Opened November 20, 2025
  21. Schmigadoon! 200 Opened April 20, 2026
  22. The Rocky Horror Show 195 Opened April 23, 2026
  23. The Lost Boys 193 Opened April 26, 2026
  24. Paranormal Activity 56 Opened August 25, 2026
  25. School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play 16 Opened September 28, 2026

Theater rankings cover the 41 houses in our theater guide. Performance counts come from published production records; counts for running shows were correct on October 11, 2026.