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.
The 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 $1.9 billion.
Dates refer to original Broadway productions, with notes added for future productions that outran the Broadway run.
Rank | Musical | Original production | Revivals | Number of performances | Gross revenue (US$) | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Debut year | Closing year | No. of performances | ||||||
1 | The Lion King † | 1997 | Present | 10,522 | — | TBD | $1,987,706,068 [2] | [3] |
2 | Wicked † | 2003 | Present | 8,048 | — | TBD | $1,641,967,404 | [4] |
3 | The Phantom of the Opera | 1988 | 2023 | 13,981 | — | 13,981 | $1,364,632,622 | [5] |
4 | Hamilton † | 2015 | Present | 3,125 | — | TBD | $960,501,181 | [6] |
5 | The Book of Mormon † | 2011 | Present | 4,911 | — | TBD | $801,156,331 | [7] |
6 | Chicago † | 1975 | 1977 | 10,897 | 1996–Present | TBD | $781,629,311 | [8] |
7 | Aladdin † | 2014 | Present | 3,683 | — | TBD | $657,218,270 | [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 | [lower-alpha 1] |
11 | Cats | 1982 | 2000 | 7,485 | 2016–2017 | 8,078 | $453,624,091 [lower-alpha 2] | [lower-alpha 3] |
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 | 1,449 | — | TBD | $266,079,709 [21] | |
21 | Hairspray | 2002 | 2009 | 2,642 | — | 2,642 | $252,181,270 | |
22 | MJ the Musical † | 2022 | Present | 1,069 | — | TBD | $213,257,610 [22] | |
23 | Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark | 2011 | 2014 | 1,066 | — | 1,066 | $212,406,040 | [8] |
24 | The Music Man | 1957 | 1961 | 1,375 | 2000-2001; 2021-2023 | 2,447 | $206,161,177 [23] | |
25 | Matilda the Musical | 2013 | 2017 5 | 1,554 | — | 1,554 | $198,165,852 |
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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 [lower-alpha 4] | [lower-alpha 5] |
2 | The Phantom of the Opera | 1986 | $6,060,000,000 [lower-alpha 4] | [lower-alpha 6] |
3 | Mamma Mia! | 1999 | $4,000,000,000 | [26] |
4 | Cats | 1981 | $3,565,624,091 [lower-alpha 7] | [lower-alpha 8] |
5 | Wicked | 2003 | $3,530,000,000 [lower-alpha 9] | [lower-alpha 10] |
6 | Les Misérables | 1980 | $2,708,535,588 [lower-alpha 9] | [lower-alpha 11] |
7 | Miss Saigon | 1989 | $1,636,259,976 [lower-alpha 9] | [lower-alpha 12] |
8 | Jersey Boys | 2004 | $1,644,848,098 [lower-alpha 9] | [lower-alpha 13] |
9 | Beauty and the Beast | 1993 | $1,600,000,000 [lower-alpha 9] | [24] |
10 | Starlight Express | 1984 | $1,200,000,000 [lower-alpha 9] | |
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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.
Musical | Debut year | Worldwide ticket sales | Broadway ticket sales [29] [lower-alpha 14] |
---|---|---|---|
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 [lower-alpha 14] |
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 [lower-alpha 14] |
Jersey Boys | 2005 | 25,000,000 [39] | 5,150,298 |
Starlight Express | 1984 | 25,000,000 [40] | 1,153,702 |
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn is an English theatre director. He has been the artistic director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal Haymarket. He has directed dramas for the stage, including Macbeth, as well as opera and musicals, such as Cats (1981) and Les Misérables (1985).
Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz, is a sung-through musical with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, and a book by Schönberg and Boublil, based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The French musical premiered in Paris in 1980 with direction by Robert Hossein. Its English-language adaptation, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, produced by Cameron Mackintosh, has been running in London since October 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world after the original off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks. Many other long-running productions followed on Broadway and around the world, and a film adaptation was released in 2012.
Miss Saigon is a sung-through stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera Madama Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover. The setting of the plot is relocated to 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War, and Madama Butterfly's story of marriage between an American lieutenant and a geisha is replaced by a romance between a United States Marine and a seventeen-year-old South Vietnamese bargirl.
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York Times. He is the producer of shows including Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Miss Saigon, Mary Poppins, Oliver!, and Hamilton.
Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, is a Filipino singer and actress. Known primarily for her work in theatre, she has starred in musicals on Broadway and in the West End. Her accolades include a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for two Grammy Awards. She was conferred with the Presidential Medal of Merit in 1990 and the Order of Lakandula in 2007, and she was honored as a Disney Legend in 2011.
Alain Boublil is a French national musical theatre lyricist and librettist, best known for his collaborations with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg for musicals on Broadway and London's West End. These include La Révolution Française (1973), Les Misérables (1980), Miss Saigon (1989), Martin Guerre (1996), The Pirate Queen (2006), and Marguerite (2008).
Claude-Michel Schönberg is a French record producer, actor, singer, songwriter, and musical theatre composer, best known for his collaborations with lyricist Alain Boublil. Major works include La Révolution Française (1973), Les Misérables (1980), Miss Saigon (1989), Martin Guerre (1996), The Pirate Queen (2006), and Marguerite (2008).
The Princess of Wales Theatre is a 2,000-seat live theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on King Street West, in Toronto's downtown Entertainment District. The theatre's name has a triple meaning: it honours Diana, Princess of Wales, with whose consent the theatre was named; it links the building to its sister theatre, the Royal Alexandra, one block to the east, also named – with Royal assent – for a former Princess of Wales; and it recalls the Princess Theatre, Toronto's first "first-class legitimate" playhouse, that stood three blocks to the east until 1931.
The Lion King is a stage musical with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and a book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, with additional music and lyrics by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor, and Hans Zimmer. It is based on the 1994 Walt Disney Animation Studios' film of the same name. Directed by Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well as giant, hollow puppets. The show is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions.
Joanna Ampil is a musical theatre and film actress from the Philippines and United Kingdom.
Norm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway, in the West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre. He’s also noted for his wide vocal range. Lewis was the second African-American actor after Robert Guillaume to perform in the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the first one to do so in the Broadway production. In 2023, he reprised the role in the show's sequel, Love Never Dies, in London's West End.
Samantha Jane Barks is a Manx actress and singer who rose to fame after placing third in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything in 2008. She has released three studio albums: Looking in Your Eyes (2007), Samantha Barks (2016), and Into the Unknown (2021), and made her film debut as Éponine in the Tom Hooper-directed Les Misérables in 2012. Her performance in the film won her the Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer and a shared National Board of Review Award with the film's cast.
The Disney Renaissance was a period from 1989 to 1999 during which Walt Disney Feature Animation returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films. The ten feature films associated with this period are The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999).
Mirvish Productions, commonly known as Mirvish, is a Canadian theatrical production company, based in Toronto. Founded in 1986 by David Mirvish with his father, Ed Mirvish, it is the largest commercial theatre company in Canada. Mirvish Productions own and operate four theatres in the downtown Toronto area: the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Princess of Wales Theatre, Ed Mirvish Theatre, and the CAA Theatre.
Robin de Levita is a Dutch theatre- and television producer, who produced shows on Broadway and West End and won several Tony Awards.
Anthony Lyn is a Welsh theatrical director and actor, originally from Swansea in South Wales. During his early life, he performed in numerous shows at the Grand Theatre in Swansea. As an actor he appeared in London's West End and toured nationally.
Eva Maria Noblezada is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her work in theatre, starring in musicals in the West End and on Broadway. Her accolades include a Grammy Award and two Tony Award nominations.
Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures is the live show, stageplay and musical production arm of Warner Bros. Discovery. The company forms a part of Warner Bros., one of the major business segments of Warner Bros. Discovery. Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures is led by Mark Kaufman.
MJ the Musical is a jukebox musical based on the life of the American entertainer Michael Jackson. It features Jackson's music, with a book by Lynn Nottage, and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon.