After the April 11 evening performance of “Wicked,” the musical about the witches of Oz will supplant “Cats” to become the fourth longest-running Broadway show in history. “Wicked” is set to play its 7,486 performance, beating out “Cats’” total of 7,485. “Wicked” began previews at the Gershwin Theatre on Oct. 8, 2003, before it officially opened on Oct. 30.
Directed by Joe Mantello and based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, “Wicked” features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman.
With “Wicked” replacing “Cats,” the top four longest-running Broadway productions in history will all be currently running shows — until the No. 1 “Phantom of the Opera” plays its final performance on April 16.
“Chicago” ranks second ahead of “The Lion King” in third.
Because these second, third and fourth place shows are set to continue to run, they are in contention to surpass the record set by “Phantom” — which will have played 13,891 performances at the time of closing. Still, they have a ways to go to catch up to the first-place production.
On April 16, “Chicago” will hit 10,337 performances. To catch up to “Phantom,” the Kander and Ebb musical would need to play eight performances per week for approximately 8.76 more years.
“Wicked” has an even taller order if it wants to climb higher than its newly earned fourth place. “The Lion King” holds third place — leading by 2,450 performances — and will maintain that gap is it continues to play.
Outside of “Phantom of the Opera,” “Chicago,” “The Lion King” and “Wicked,” the only other show in the Top 15 that is still open on the Main Stem is “The Book of Mormon.” For that show to enter the Top 10, it needs to run for approximately 2.7 more years to overtake current No. 10 “Beauty and the Beast.”
As of April 12, the Top 10 longest-running Broadway productions in history will be: 1. “The Phantom of the Opera,” 2. “Chicago” (1996 revival), 3. “The Lion King,” 4. “Wicked,” 5. “Cats,” 6. “Les Misérables,” 7. “A Chorus Line,” 8. “Oh Calcutta!” (1976 revival), 9. “Mamma Mia!,” and 10. “Beauty and the Beast.”
Ruthie Fierberg contributed reporting to this story.
