Broadway By the Numbers - The Longest Runners

With the news that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child just became the third longest-running play in Broadway history, I was curious about other long-running shows. I mean we all know about The Phantom of the Opera and the current revival of Chicago, but what about others?

Broadway By the Numbers:

The Longest Runners

The most surprising thing to me was the fact that over the years and thousands of productions there are only 127 shows that have played 1,000 performances or more!

NOTE: For the rest of these stats, I only considered the 100 longest-running shows as of August 31, 2025.

• The first Broadway show to reach 1,000 performances was a play from 1918 called Lightnin', which played a total of 1,291 shows.
• The bottom spot is currently a tie between the original production of Cabaret and & Juliet, both with 1,165 performances. (By the time you read this, & Juliet will be #99 and climbing, with Cabaret a solid #100.)
• Of the 100 productions: 5 are Musical Revivals, 21 are Plays, and 74 are Musicals.
• 42 won either the Best Play, Best Musical or Best Revival Tony Awards.
• 12 were not Tony Award eligible.

The 1910s - 1 Top 100

    Longest Running: #86: Lightnin' 1,291 performances (play)

The 1920s - 1 Top 100

    Longest Running: #34: Abie's Irish Rose 2,327 performances (play)

The 1930s - 3 Top 100

    Longest Running: #20: Life With Father 3,224 performances (play)

The 1940s - 7 Top 100

    Longest Running: #36: Oklahoma! 2,212 performances (musical)

The 1950s - 6 Top 100

    Longest Running: #23: My Fair Lady 2,717 performances (musical)

The 1960s - 14 Top 100

    Longest Running: #19: Fiddler on the Roof 3,242 performances (musical)

The 1970s - 18 Top 100

    Longest Running: #7: A Chorus Line 6,137 performances (musical)

The 1980s - 8 Top 100

    Longest Running: #1: The Phantom of the Opera 13,981 performances (musical)

The 1990s - 11 Top 100

    Longest Running: #6: Chicago 11,329 performances (musical revival)*

The 2000s - 15 Top 100

    Longest Running: #3: Wicked 8,490 performances (musical)*

The 2010s - 13 Top 100

    Longest Running: #11: The Book of Mormon 5,343 performances (musical)*

The 2020s - 3 Top 100

    Longest Running: #65: Six 1,618 performances (musical)*

* - still running

Friday 5: 5 Favorite Classic Musicals of the 1950s

5 Favorite Classic Musicals of the 1950s 

A few Fridays ago, we talked about 5 classic plays that have stood the test of time and remain as entertaining and relevant as ever. When I tried to make a list of just 5 classic musicals, I came up with about 50, So, instead, I decided to cut off the time period to just the 1950s - we can always look at other decades another time. As it is, I can think another 10 shows from that period that also have staying power and influence the genre still.

  

5. Damn Yankees (1955): The very definition of musical comedy, I named this one as a reminder that a novel-based musical can be clever and timely and be about an unlikely topic. In this case, baseball... a sport... it makes me feel like a jock. It also brought the world such classics as "(You Gotta Have) Heart" and "Whatever Lola Wants," and a great - if extra and nonsensical - dance number, "Who's Got the Pain?" And special thanks to Bob and Gwen! Firmly rooted in its own time - was it the Rent of its day? - it still holds up. 

  

4. Guys and Dolls (1951): It's hard to imagine a Broadway musical list of any nature that doesn't include this Frank Loesser gem. Very much of its time - ballet sequences (production numbers of yore), a romantic couple, a B-plot comic couple, larger than life characters, and a twisty plot that ends up with everything just as it should be - Guys and Dolls is the cream of that classic crop. This masterpiece had brilliant performances of Grade-A material and a practically perfect score. Decades from now, this will still be produced and revered.

  

3. My Fair Lady (1956): One of the great musical partnerships of all-time, Lerner and Loewe, created one of Broadway's longest-running and oft-produced shows. Though the book is pretty much Pygmalion verbatim, the Shaw classic seems even better with the addition of musical numbers. And what a doozy of a song list! It boasts such timeless songs as "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?", "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face", "The Rain in Spain", "Get Me to the Church in Time", "On the Street Where You Live" and "I Could Have Danced All Night." 

  

2. South Pacific (1950): The writing team of Rodgers and Hammerstein is synonymous with ground-breaking musical theater. Sure, their 40s show, Oklahoma! is credited with advancing the art form, but I think South Pacific is their biggest achievement. Exotic locales, a tribute to the heroes of World War II, an epic love story, and a controversial social message combine to make this one a cut above the rest. Is it any wonder it won the Pulitzer Prize For Drama? The ballad, "Some Enchanted Evening," is top tier, and you can't beat such show-stoppers as "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" and "There Is Nothing Like a Dame." But it's "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" that remains as relevant today as it was nearly 75 years ago.

  

1. West Side Story (1957): Perhaps one of the biggest leaps forward in the genre in the Golden Age, is Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein's masterpiece based on Romeo and Juliet, a timeless classic in its own right. With racism, gang violence, and social injustice at the forefront, the team further pushed the envelop with a completely danced overture/prologue, gritty realism and violent murder as hallmarks of the production. Its influence is still felt today. Oh, and it introduced a young hot shot lyricist named Stephen Sondheim to the world. 

Play It Again: My Fair Lady's "On the Street Where You Live"

Play It Again:

My Fair Lady's "On the Street Where You Live"

For this new series, Jeff has invited me to choose some classic Broadway show tunes and compare versions of these songs from several different cast recordings. Wherever possible, I’ll link to the songs on YouTube, where I listen to most of them myself.

This week’s edition considers four recordings of “On the Street Where You Live” from Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady. One of Broadway’s most vivid statements of simple but exuberant devotion, this song bears a lot of the burden for making the secondary character of Freddy feel like a genuine alternative to Higgins in the pursuit of Eliza Doolittle’s affection. While Freddy isn’t exactly what you’d call a juicy character, two of these singers manage to squeeze a fair amount of flavor from this song, resulting in a very close race for my top pick.

My overall favorite version is marked with two stars (**); one star (*) is used to indicate that a particular version stands out in terms of singing, orchestra, sound, or other miscellaneous qualities. (Once again this week I have declared a tie in the “singing” category.)

ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST (1956) - YouTube

Freddy Eynsford-Hill: John Michael King

SINGING: King’s powerful but stolid delivery is very much in keeping with the character’s uncomplicated ardor, but there’s little sense of development throughout the song. Some of the later, more nuanced versions are just more satisfying to listen to.

ORCHESTRA: This is a typically lush, string-oriented Golden age orchestration. I love the leaping build-up to the middle eight; the spirited orchestral break and brassy ending are also very nice.

SOUND: This early stereo recording sounds fine in the orchestral sections, but is otherwise too voice-forward and many details get lost in the mix.

MISCELLANEOUS: The tempo is moderate, but probably features the most effective use of the dramatic pauses written into the song. Unlike the other versions, this one leaves out the introductory verse and dialog when Freddy comes to call on Eliza, probably due to the limitations on LP length.

MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK (1964) - YouTube

Freddy Eynsford-Hill: Bill Shirley

SINGING: Shirley’s voice is a little thinner than King’s but more pliant, with some variation in dynamic level. However, this version still lacks the warmth and personality of the two later entries.

*ORCHESTRA: This is a very luxurious orchestration, as is expected for a film version of a classic musical. Several layers of melody and countermelody can often be heard in the string section, and the brass and woodwind ornamentation is very detailed.

SOUND: The aggressive stereo makes for a very striking “surround sound” feel in the orchestral passages, but the balance and separation between voice and orchestra isn’t the clearest, especially in the louder sections (such as the ending).

MISCELLANEOUS: This one does include the introductory verse and dialogue, but the song itself is truncated compared to all the other versions, lacking the orchestral break and final repeat.

STUDIO CAST (2007) - YouTube

Freddy Eynsford-Hill: Jerry Hadley

*SINGING: Hadley’s pure operatic power is unequaled, and happily it’s also wedded to a canny sense for the ebb and flow of Loewe’s melodies and Lerner’s words. Notice, at the end of the first section of the song, the natural-feeling shift from intensity (“several stories high”) to tenderness (“on the street where you live”). His delivery of the words “towering feeling” seems to manifest that exact image in vocal form.

ORCHESTRA: The London Symphony, of course, sounds wonderful, but also quite restrained, especially in the orchestral passage in the middle of the song.

SOUND: The sound is mostly clear and well-balanced, but becomes a little muddled at the very loudest parts, especially at the end of the song.

*MISCELLANEOUS: This version has the most relaxed pace, which I think is fitting for a song about savoring an unrushed moment of anticipation. The track includes the introductory dialogue and the full song with repeats.

**BROADWAY REVIVAL CAST (2018) - YouTube

Freddy Eynsford-Hill: Jordan Donica

*SINGING: Donica may not be the accomplished operatic tenor that Hadley was, but he comes close, and his very detailed performance does just as good a job in creating a character through song. He’s willing to break (very briefly) from vocal perfection for the sake of emotional impact, as in his judicious use of shout-singing on the word “towering,” and near-speaking on “no, it’s just on the street…” at the end of the second section. In addition, his relative restraint at the beginning of the song allows for a real sense of build-up as the song progresses.

ORCHESTRA: Similar, if not identical to, the original orchestrations (though we get to hear more of them).

*SOUND: This is one of the clearest, most well-balanced cast recordings I’ve heard in a long time. Orchestral details are discernable throughout, even in the louder passages, and the brassy ending sounds incredible. The stellar sound quality gives this version the edge over the 2007 studio recording.

MISCELLANEOUS: This version features, I think, the fastest tempo. It includes the same material as the studio recording, but with another bit of dialogue over the mid-song orchestral section, where Freddy expresses his willingness to wait weeks to see Eliza if necessary.

Broadway in a Box CD Review: My Fair Lady (1956 OBCR)

At Christmas a few years ago, Jeff gave me a copy of Broadway in a Box: The Essential Broadway Musicals Collection. He has now given me the opportunity to use his blog to share my impressions of each of the 25 cast recordings contained in the set, in alphabetical order. 

This week’s entry is about the 1956 Original Broadway Cast Recording of My Fair Lady.

Broadway in a Box CD Review:

My Fair Lady (1956 OBCR)

One of the earliest recordings in the boxed set, this true classic of a cast album still holds up as a great representation of one of the most successful musicals in Broadway history. The cast is pretty much unimpeachable, the orchestra lavish, and the sound amazingly good (it’s a testament to its quality that I didn’t even notice it was a mono recording as I listened to it). 

The two leading singers, of course, give definitive performances. Julie Andrews sings the role of Eliza Doolittle with all of the passion and sweetness that would become her trademark, even if she didn’t convey the character’s pre-transformation earthiness quite as vividly as Lauren Ambrose did in the last revival. Rex Harrison is simply flawless as Henry Higgins, which isn’t surprising since the part was basically written to match his skill-set as an outstanding dramatic actor with limited singing abilities.

The supporting roles are equally well-cast. Robert Coote is bright and engaging as Higgins’ frequent scene partner, Colonel Pickering. Although I don’t care for either of Alfred Doolittle’s big songs in the show, Stanley Holloway certainly nails them, capturing the character’s boisterous and heedless nature. Probably the best of all is John Michael King as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, who delivers a beautiful version of my favorite song from the show, “On the Street Where You Live.”

The CD is generously filled out with two five-minute interviews conducted by Columbia Records president and LP pioneer Goddard Lieberson. The first was conducted after the 14-plus-hour recording session for the cast album. Asked by Lieberson which is their favorite song, Harrison answers “I’m Just an Ordinary Man”; Andrews says “Just You Wait”; and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner quips “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’.” Andrews interestingly notes that the recording session was the first time she really noticed the show’s intricate orchestrations, which are apparently difficult to hear on stage. (The interview, it must be said, is marred by an unfortunate joke from the host, about which I won’t go into additional detail.)

In the second bonus interview, Lieberson asks Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe about their creative process. They note their early difficulties in finding a title for the show, and especially in casting the role of Higgins; the latter problem was resolved by their decision to write it as a sing-speech role, thus converting a casting quandary into a writing challenge more under their control. Of their general approach to songwriting, Lerner says that he first conceives the title of a song, which Loewe then sets to music before they collaborate on the rest of the song. To illustrate the process, they discuss and then perform together “If Ever I Would Leave You” from their work-in-progress at the time, Camelot.

Next up is the 1979 Broadway Revival Recording of Oklahoma!

Thanks, Mike! Those interviews sound delightful. -- Jeff

At This Theater: The Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center

Tucked away in the back corner of the Lincoln Center campus, the Vivian Beaumont Theater is easily recognizable with its large plate glass windows and trademark neon logo-signs. Opened in 1965 and named for philanthropist Vivian Beaumont Allen, the theater has been home to a wide variety of plays and musicals. Revivals of Shakespeare, Moliere, Williams and Ibsen were the main attractions until 1972, when The Threepenny Opera became its first musical occupant. Since then, modern plays, major musical revivals, and original new musicals have taken their place alongside the classics.

At This Theater:

The Vivian Beaumont

Provided the director and designers truly understand how to take full advantage of the enormous thrust stage, there really isn't a bad seat in the house. Between the view and the relatively spacious seating with decent leg room, we really love going uptown to the Viv.

The Shows We've Seen There:  Anything Goes, Contact, South Pacific, War Horse, The King and I, My Fair Lady

How They Rate:

6. Contact  (2000) Although it really pushed the limits of what could be considered a "musical," and it raised more than a few eyebrows when it won the Tony Award for Best Musical, I really enjoyed this performance. I love watching great dancers, and the show was full of them. Add Boyd Gaines  and  Karen Ziemba, and it couldn't be that bad. What ever happened to the Girl in the Yellow Dress?

  

  

5. My Fair Lady  (2018)  I've always had a soft spot in my heart for this show, ever since 11th grade, when I played Pickering. This production was lavish, beautiful to look at, and made relevant once again with Bartlett Sher's smart direction. Not that it was perfect - I found Norbert Leo Butz to be as tedious as the constant moving in and out of that huge library set. Both were interesting the first time they came into view. After that, not so much.

   

   

4.  The King and I (2015) I've seen so many professional productions of this show, you'd think it was my favorite by Rodgers an Hammerstein. It isn't - though "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" may be  the all-time great production number of any show I've seen. This production was a beautiful, sweeping epic, made all the more so because the design and direction took up every inch of the cavernous space (even when the stage was virtually empty). Kelli O'Hara was endearing, a brooding Ken Watanabe was charming, and both Ruthie Ann Miles and Ashley Park were captivating. And yet, the show didn't leave me on a high like the 1996 revival.

   

   

3. War Horse (2011) The sheer magnitude of this production puts this show near the top of my all-time favorite plays. I mean, a sweeping, epic story performed live before my eyes?! But what makes this show so wonderful is the artistry of those amazing puppets, not only in their execution, but the way that the actors interacted with them, and how, as an audience member, they all elicited such emotion from me. It was a privilege to see this.

   

   

2. South Pacific (2008) From the overture (the orchestra reveal...WOW!) to the finale, this gorgeous revival of my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein musical did not disappoint. Some how, this production managed to be as big as the Pacific and as intimate as a quiet pond.  Paulo Szot, Loretta Ables-Sayre, Danny Burstein and Matthew Morrison were all amazing, each bringing a depth and vibrancy to their roles. This is the role Kelli O'Hara should have won the Tony for. She's never been better, and neither has this show.

   

1. Anything Goes (1987) Let's face it. This title is old, somewhat problematic, and eye-rollingly cliche. Sure, it has a great Cole Porter score with some super opportunities for big dance numbers. (On paper, it is exactly the show that people who hate musicals would point to for proof of their hatred.) And yet, this revival was magnificent.  Patti LuPone was the definitive Reno Sweeney (sorry, Sutton), and Howard McGillin had the audience in full swoon with every impish grin, plot twist, and song. Brilliantly sung and danced, this revival knew what it was working with and made the most of it at every turn.

   

   

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