The following is a list of highest-grossing musical theatre productions on Broadway, the highest-grossing musical theatre franchises globally, and the highest theatre admissions at the box office globally.

Highest-grossing Broadway 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. 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 $2 billion.

Dates refer to original Broadway productions, with notes added for future productions that outran the Broadway run.

+ Broadway revenue (since 1982) Rank Musical Original production Revivals Number of performances Gross revenue (US$) Debut year Closing year No. of performances 1 The Lion King 1997 Present 11,347 $2,206,140,004 2 Wicked 2003 Present 8,873 $1,880,811,260 3 The Phantom of the Opera 1988 2023 13,981 13,981 $1,364,632,622 4 Hamilton 2015 Present 3,940 $1,200,019,573 5 The Book of Mormon 2011 Present 5,701 $907,245,130 6 Chicago 1975 1977 936 1996–Present 11,711 $873,751,483 7 Aladdin 2014 Present 4,495 $806,133,342 8 Mamma Mia! 2001 2015 5,758 2025–2026 $670,150,538 9Jersey Boys20052017 4,642 4,462$558,416,092 10 Les Misérables 1987 2003 6,680 2006; 2014–2016 8,167 $514,794,489 11 Beauty and the Beast 1994 2007 5,461 5,461 $429,158,458 12 Cats 1982 Present 7,493 2016– 2017; Present 8,165 $421,124,026 13 Moulin Rouge! The Musical201920262,295 $383,859,307 14Harry Potter and the Cursed Child2018Present1,980 $364,454,806 15 MJ the Musical 2022 Present 1,877 $360,683,424 16 Miss Saigon 1991 2001 4,092 2017 4,475 $322,103,948 17 Kinky Boots 2013 2019 2,505 2,505 $318,990,092 18 Mary Poppins 2006 2013 2,619 2,619 $294,558,648 19 The Producers 2001 2007 2,502 2,502 $288,361,724 20 Hadestown 2019 Present 2,356 $282,439,561 21 Rent 1996 2008 5,123 5,123 $274,248,128 22 Beautiful: The Carole King Musical 2014 2019 2,418 2,418 $270,623,922 23 Dear Evan Hansen 2016 2022 1,669 1,669 $270,272,35724Cabaret196619691,1651987–1988, 1998–2004, 2014–2015, 2024-2025$258,456,699 25 Hairspray 2002 2009 2,642 2,642 $252,181,270 26 SIX: The Musical 2021 Present 1,961 TBD $237,625,587

Highest-grossing musical theatre franchises

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 theaters across the world.

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.

+ Worldwide revenue Rank Musical Debut year Gross revenue (US$) 1 The Lion King 1997 $8,251,556,700 2 The Phantom of the Opera 1986 $6,060,000,000 3 Wicked 2003 $5,000,000,000+ 4 Mamma Mia! 1999 $4,000,000,000 5 Cats 1981 $3,565,624,091 6 Les Misérables 1980 $2,708,535,588 7 Miss Saigon 1989 $1,636,259,976 8 Jersey Boys 2004 $1,644,848,098 9 Beauty and the Beast 1993 $1,600,000,000 10 Starlight Express 1984 $1,200,000,000

Box office admissions (ticket sales)

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. 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 salesThe Phantom of the Opera 1988 130,000,000"Phantom of the Opera Screening Earns Over £500,000 in the UK", BroadwayWorld.com, October 5, 2011 18,000,000The Lion King 1997 100,000,000 15,000,000 Cats 1982 73,000,000 9,333,667 Les Misérables 1987 130,000,000 10,600,947 Mamma Mia! 2001 65,000,000 7,566,124Wicked 2003 55,000,000 11,000,000 Beauty and the Beast 1994 35,000,000 7,609,397 Miss Saigon 1991 35,000,000 6,584,913Chicago 1975 31,000,000 9,000,000 Jersey Boys 2005 25,000,000 5,150,298 Starlight Express 1984 25,000,000 1,153,702

See also Lists of musicals List of highest-grossing musical films Long-running theatre productions Broadway shows West End shows

Notes

References