List of highest-grossing musical theatre productions
The following is a list of highest-grossing musical theatre productions of all time, the highest-grossing musical theatre franchises, and the highest theatre admissions at the box office.
Highest-grossing musical theatre productions
editThe following is a list of the top 25 highest-grossing Broadway musicals since 1982, based on data collected by the Broadway League. These grosses do not take into account the effects of inflation and as such the list is heavily skewed in favor of more recent Broadway shows. Moreover, the Broadway League did not begin collecting gross data until June 1984.[1] Hence, accurate pre-1984 gross data is not available and this list should not be considered accurate for musicals that premiered on Broadway before that year.
The Lion King sits at the top, with a Broadway gross of $1.9 billion.
Dates refer to original Broadway productions, with notes added for future productions that outran the Broadway run.
- † Background shading indicates shows running in the week commencing 16 August 2024 in Broadway theatres.
Rank | Musical | Original production | Revivals | Number of performances | Gross revenue (US$) | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Debut year | Closing year | No. of performances | ||||||
1 | The Lion King † | 1997 | Present | 10,514 | — | TBD | $1,985,598,438[2] | [3] |
2 | Wicked † | 2003 | Present | 8,040 | — | TBD | $1,639,986,026 | [4] |
3 | The Phantom of the Opera | 1988 | 2023 | 13,981 | — | 13,981 | $1,364,632,622 | [5] |
4 | Hamilton † | 2015 | Present | 3,117 | — | TBD | $958,722,891 | [6] |
5 | The Book of Mormon † | 2011 | Present | 4,903 | — | TBD | $800,325,470 | [7] |
6 | Chicago † | 1975 | 1977 | 10,889 | 1996–Present | TBD | $780,790,798 | [8] |
7 | Aladdin † | 2014 | Present | 3,675 | — | TBD | $655,862,985 | [9] |
8 | Mamma Mia! | 2001 | 2015 | 5,758 | — | 5,758 | $624,391,693 | [10] |
9 | Jersey Boys | 2005 | 2017 | 4,642 | — | 4,462 | $558,416,092 | [11] |
10 | Les Misérables | 1987 | 2003 | 6,680 | 2006; 2014–2016 | 8,167 | $514,794,489 | [a] |
11 | Cats | 1982 | 2000 | 7,485 | 2016–2017 | 8,078 | $453,624,091[b] | [c] |
12 | Beauty and the Beast | 1994 | 2007 | 5,461 | — | 5,461 | $429,158,458 | [16] |
13 | Miss Saigon | 1991 | 2001 | 4,092 | 2017 | 4,475 | $322,103,948 | [17] |
14 | Kinky Boots | 2013 | 2019 | 2,505 | — | 2,505 | $318,990,092 | [18] |
15 | Mary Poppins | 2006 | 2013 | 2,619 | — | 2,619 | $294,558,648 | [19] |
16 | The Producers | 2001 | 2007 | 2,502 | — | 2,502 | $288,361,724 | [8] |
17 | Rent | 1996 | 2008 | 5,123 | — | 5,123 | $274,248,128 | |
18 | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical | 2014 | 2019 | 2,418 | — | 2,418 | $270,623,922[20] | |
19 | Dear Evan Hansen | 2016 | 2022 | 1,669 | — | 1,669 | $270,272,357 | |
20 | Moulin Rouge! The Musical† | 2019 | Present | 1,441 | — | TBD | $264,858,931[21] | |
21 | Hairspray | 2002 | 2009 | 2,642 | — | 2,642 | $252,181,270 | |
22 | Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark | 2011 | 2014 | 1,066 | — | 1,066 | $212,406,040 | [8] |
23 | MJ the Musical † | 2022 | Present | 1,053 | — | TBD | $210,749,337[22] | |
24 | The Music Man | 1957 | 1961 | 1,375 | 2000-2001; 2021-2023 | 2,447 | $206,161,177[23] | |
25 | Matilda the Musical | 2013 | 20175 | 1,554 | — | 1,554 | $198,165,852 |
Highest-grossing musical theatre franchises
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2022) |
The following is a list of the top 10 highest-grossing musical theatre franchises worldwide based on limited available data. The following figures include revenue grossed from ticket sales in theatres across the world.[24][25]
Note that the following gross figures are nominal, not adjusted for inflation, and do not take into account rising ticket prices. As such, the list gives far more weight to more recent musicals.
The Lion King sits at the top, with a gross of $8.2 billion worldwide.
Rank | Musical | Debut year | Gross revenue (US$) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Lion King | 1997 | $8,251,556,700[d] | [e] |
2 | The Phantom of the Opera | 1986 | $6,060,000,000[d] | [f] |
3 | Mamma Mia! | 1999 | $4,000,000,000 | [26] |
4 | Cats | 1981 | $3,565,624,091[g] | [h] |
5 | Wicked | 2003 | $3,530,000,000[i] | [j] |
6 | Les Misérables | 1980 | $2,708,535,588[i] | [k] |
7 | Miss Saigon | 1989 | $1,636,259,976[i] | [l] |
8 | Jersey Boys | 2004 | $1,644,848,098[i] | [m] |
9 | Beauty and the Beast | 1993 | $1,600,000,000[i] | [24] |
10 | Starlight Express | 1984 | $1,200,000,000[i] |
Box office admissions (ticket sales)
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2022) |
The following is a list of the musical theatre franchises with the highest theatre admissions. The list includes worldwide ticket sales as well as Broadway ticket sales since 1984. Shows must have sold more than 1 million tickets.
The Broadway League did not begin collecting admissions data until June 1984.[1] Hence, pre-1984 Broadway admissions data is not available and the Broadway figures should not be considered accurate for musicals that premiered on Broadway before that year.
- † Background shading indicates shows running in the week commencing 16 August 2024 in Broadway theatres.
Musical | Debut year | Worldwide ticket sales | Broadway ticket sales[29][n] |
---|---|---|---|
The Phantom of the Opera | 1988 | 130,000,000[30] | 18,000,000 |
The Lion King † | 1997 | 100,000,000[31] | 15,000,000 |
Cats | 1982 | 73,000,000[32] | 9,333,667[n] |
Les Misérables | 1987 | 70,000,000[33] | 10,600,947 |
Mamma Mia! | 2001 | 65,000,000[34] | 7,566,124 |
Wicked † | 2003 | 55,000,000[35] | 11,000,000 |
Beauty and the Beast | 1994 | 35,000,000[36] | 7,609,397 |
Miss Saigon | 1991 | 35,000,000[37] | 6,584,913 |
Chicago † | 1975 | 31,000,000[38] | 9,000,000[n] |
Jersey Boys | 2005 | 25,000,000[39] | 5,150,298 |
Starlight Express | 1984 | 25,000,000[40] | 1,153,702 |
See also
edit- Lists of musicals
- List of highest-grossing musical films
- Long-running theatre productions
Notes
edit- ^ Les Misérables Broadway revenue:
- ^ Accurate pre-1984 grosses not available
- ^ Cats Broadway revenue:
- ^ a b Post-December 2017 non-Broadway grosses not included
- ^ The Lion King musical theatre revenue:
- ^ The Phantom of the Opera musical theatre revenue:
- ^ Post-2012 non-Broadway grosses not included
- ^ Cats worldwide revenue:
- ^ a b c d e f Post-May-2013 non-Broadway grosses not included
- ^ Wicked revenue:
- ^ Les Misérables musical theatre revenue:
- ^ Miss Saigon revenue:
- ^ Jersey Boys revenue:
- ^ a b c Pre-1984 admissions not available
References
edit- ^ a b "Research & Statistics: GROSSES – BROADWAY IN NYC". The Broadway League. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ "THE LION KING Broadway Grosses". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
- ^ a b "THE LION KING Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b "WICKED Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ "HAMILTON Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ "THE BOOK OF MORMON Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b c "CHICAGO Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ "ALADDIN Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ "MAMMA MIA Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- ^ a b "JERSEY BOYS Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- ^ "LES MISÉRABLES (ORIGINAL) Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ a b "LES MISÉRABLES Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (April 6, 2018). "The Top 10 Highest-Grossing Broadway Shows of All Time". Playbill. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ a b "CATS Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ "MISS SAIGON Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ "KINKY BOOTS Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ "MARY POPPINS Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ "'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical'". playbill.com. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ "'Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Broadway)'". Playbill.com. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ "MJ THE MUSICAL Broadway Grosses". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
- ^ "'The Music Man Broadway Gross'". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "Money, money, money". The Economist. May 3, 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 4, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
- ^ a b c Seymour, Lee (December 18, 2017). "Over The Last 20 Years, Broadway's 'Lion King' Has Made More Money For Disney Than 'Star Wars'". Forbes.
- ^ "Press Centre: Facts & Figures". Judy Craymer. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
- ^ Riedel, Michael (November 21, 2012). "How 'Cats' was purrfected". New York Post. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
- ^ "MISS SAIGON Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
- ^ "Cumulative Broadway Grosses by Show (Seats Sold)". Broadway World. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ "Phantom of the Opera Screening Earns Over £500,000 in the UK", BroadwayWorld.com, October 5, 2011
- ^ "Disney's THE LION KING Announces Casting For UK And Ireland Tour". Broadway World. June 3, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "About The Show". Cats the Musical • Official Website. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "About The Show". Les Misérables Official Website. Cameron Mackintosh Limited. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "MAJOR NEW CAST CHANGES IN MAMMA MIA! FROM MONDAY 10 JUNE 2019 AT LONDON'S NOVELLO THEATRE". Delfont Mackintosh Theatres. May 1, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "Wicked celebrates turning 12!". Official London Theatre. September 28, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "Disney's Beauty & the Beast". Fox Theatre. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "MISS SAIGON: UK Tour". RawPR. Feast Creative. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "CHICAGO THE MUSICAL set to razzle dazzle even longer in the West End". West End Wilma. March 20, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ Waters, Roz (March 25, 2019). "Award-winning Jersey Boys at Mayflower Theatre". The New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "Starlight Express". Lunchbox Theatrical Productions. June 5, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2019.