List_of_highest-grossing_musicals

List of highest-grossing musical theatre productions

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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

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.

† Background shading indicates shows running in the week commencing 19 April 2024 in Broadway theatres.

More information Rank, Musical ...

Broadway revenue (since 1982)
Rank	Musical	Original production			Revivals	Number of performances	Gross revenue (US$)	Ref.
Rank	Musical	Debut year	Closing year	No. of performances	Revivals	Number of performances	Gross revenue (US$)	Ref.
1	The Lion King †	1997	Present	10,360	—	TBD	$1,942,758,643	^[2]
2	Wicked †	2003	Present	7,888	—	TBD	$1,600,945,665	^[3]
3	The Phantom of the Opera	1988	2023	13,981	—	13,981	$1,332,433,262	^[4]
4	Hamilton †	2015	Present	2,965	—	TBD	$922,438,640	^[5]
5	The Book of Mormon †	2011	Present	4,751	—	TBD	$783,135,637	^[6]
6	Chicago †	1975	1977	10,737	1996–Present	TBD	$767,566,509^{[lower-alpha 1]}	^[7]
7	Aladdin †	2014	Present	3,522	—	TBD	$628,514,273	^[8]
8	Mamma Mia!	2001	2015	5,758	—	5,758	$624,391,693	^[9]
9	Jersey Boys	2005	2017	4,642	—	4,462	$558,416,092	^[10]
10	Les Misérables	1987	2003	6,680	2006; 2014–2016	8,167	$514,794,489	^{[lower-alpha 2]}
11	Cats	1982	2000	7,485	2016–2017	8,078	$453,624,091^{[lower-alpha 1]}	^{[lower-alpha 3]}
12	Beauty and the Beast	1994	2007	5,461	—	5,461	$429,158,458	^[15]
13	Miss Saigon	1991	2001	4,092	2017	4,475	$322,103,948	^[16]
14	Kinky Boots	2013	2019	2,505	—	2,505	$318,990,092	^[17]
15	Mary Poppins	2006	2013	2,619	—	2,619	$294,558,648	^[18]
16	The Producers	2001	2007	2,502	—	2,502	$288,361,724	^[7]
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^[19]
19	Dear Evan Hansen	2016	2022	1,669	—	1,669	$270,272,357
20	Hairspray	2002	2009	2,642	—	2,642	$252,181,270
21	Moulin Rouge! The Musical†	2019	Present	1,289	—	TBD	$242,301,534^[20]
22	Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark	2011	2014	1,066	—	1,066	$212,406,040	^[7]
23	The Music Man	1957	1961	1,375	2000-2001; 2021-2023	2,447	$206,161,177^[21]
24	Matilda the Musical	2013	2017⁵	1,554	—	1,554	$198,165,852
25	MJ the Musical †	2022	Present	925	—	TBD	$188,379,699^[22]

Highest-grossing musical theatre franchises

This 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.^[23]^[24]

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.

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Worldwide revenue
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	^[25]
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]}	^[23]
10	Starlight Express	1984	$1,200,000,000^{[lower-alpha 9]}	^[23]

Box office admissions (ticket sales)

This 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 19 April 2024 in Broadway theatres.

More information Musical, Debut year ...

Musical	Debut year	Worldwide ticket sales	Broadway ticket sales^[28]^{[lower-alpha 14]}
The Phantom of the Opera	1988	130,000,000^[29]	18,000,000
The Lion King †	1997	100,000,000^[30]	15,000,000
Cats	1982	73,000,000^[31]	9,333,667^{[lower-alpha 14]}
Les Misérables	1987	70,000,000^[32]	10,600,947
Mamma Mia!	2001	65,000,000^[33]	7,566,124
Wicked †	2003	55,000,000^[34]	11,000,000
Beauty and the Beast	1994	35,000,000^[35]	7,609,397
Miss Saigon	1991	35,000,000^[36]	6,584,913
Chicago †	1975	31,000,000^[37]	9,000,000^{[lower-alpha 14]}
Jersey Boys	2005	25,000,000^[38]	5,150,298
Starlight Express	1984	25,000,000^[39]	1,153,702

Notes

Accurate pre-1984 grosses not available
Les Misérables Broadway revenue:
- 1987 to 2003 – $406,258,901^[11]
- 2006, 2014 to 2016 – $108,535,588^[12]
Cats Broadway revenue:
- 1982 to 2000 – estimated at around $388,000,000^[13]
- 2016 to 2017 – $65,624,091^[14]
Post-December 2017 non-Broadway grosses not included
The Lion King musical theatre revenue:
- Up until December 2017 – $8.1 billion^[24]
- January 2018 to June 23, 2019 – $151,556,700^[2]
The Phantom of the Opera musical theatre revenue:
- Up until December 18, 2017 – $6 billion^[24]
- December 25, 2017, to January 20, 2019 – $61,015,427^[4]
Post-2012 non-Broadway grosses not included
Cats worldwide revenue:
- As of 2012^[update] – $3.5 billion^[26]
- 2016–2017 – $65,624,091^[14]
Post-May-2013 non-Broadway grosses not included
Wicked revenue:
- Up until May 3, 2013 – $3 billion^[23]
- May 6, 2013, to January 20, 2019 – $533,663,507^[3]
Les Misérables musical theatre revenue:
- Up until 2013 – $2.6 billion^[23]
- 2014–2016 – $108,535,588^[12]
Miss Saigon revenue:
- Up until 2013 – $1.6 billion^[23]
- 2017–2018 – $36,259,976^[27]
Jersey Boys revenue:
- Up until May 3, 2013 – $1.5 billion^[23]
- May 6, 2013, to January 2017 – $144,848,098^[10]
Pre-1984 admissions not available

References

[1]
"Research & Statistics: GROSSES – BROADWAY IN NYC". The Broadway League. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
[2]
"THE LION KING Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
[3]
"WICKED Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
[4]
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[5]
"HAMILTON Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
[6]
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[7]
"Cumulative Broadway Grosses by Show". Broadway World. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
[8]
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[9]
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[10]
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[11]
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[12]
"LES MISÉRABLES Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
[13]
Culwell-Block, Logan (April 6, 2018). "The Top 10 Highest-Grossing Broadway Shows of All Time". Playbill. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
[14]
"CATS Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
[15]
"BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
[16]
"MISS SAIGON Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
[17]
"KINKY BOOTS Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
[18]
"MARY POPPINS Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
[19]
"'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical'". playbill.com. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
[20]
"'Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Broadway)'". Playbill.com. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
[21]
"'The Music Man Broadway Gross'". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
[22]
"MJ THE MUSICAL Broadway Grosses". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
[23]
"Money, money, money". The Economist. May 3, 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 4, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
[24]
Seymour, Lee (December 18, 2017). "Over The Last 20 Years, Broadway's 'Lion King' Has Made More Money For Disney Than 'Star Wars'". Forbes.
[25]
"Press Centre: Facts & Figures". Judy Craymer. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
[26]
Riedel, Michael (November 21, 2012). "How 'Cats' was purrfected". New York Post. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
[27]
"MISS SAIGON Broadway Grosses". Broadway World. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
[28]
"Cumulative Broadway Grosses by Show (Seats Sold)". Broadway World. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
[29]
"Phantom of the Opera Screening Earns Over £500,000 in the UK", BroadwayWorld.com, October 5, 2011
[30]
"Disney's THE LION KING Announces Casting For UK And Ireland Tour". Broadway World. June 3, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
[31]
"About The Show". Cats the Musical • Official Website. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
[32]
"About The Show". Les Misérables Official Website. Cameron Mackintosh Limited. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
[33]
"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.
[34]
"Wicked celebrates turning 12!". Official London Theatre. September 28, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
[35]
"Disney's Beauty & the Beast". Fox Theatre. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
[36]
"MISS SAIGON: UK Tour". RawPR. Feast Creative. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
[37]
"CHICAGO THE MUSICAL set to razzle dazzle even longer in the West End". West End Wilma. March 20, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
[38]
Waters, Roz (March 25, 2019). "Award-winning Jersey Boys at Mayflower Theatre". The New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
[39]
"Starlight Express". Lunchbox Theatrical Productions. June 5, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2019.

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