Wicked to Surpass Cats to Become Fourth Longest-Running Broadway Show in History

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.