By Ben Lerner
If you thought the last Death of a Salesman revival before the current Tony-winning production with Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf felt recent, you’re not alone and you’re not wrong. The previous production, with an all-Black cast led by Wendell Pierce and Sharon D. Clarke, played on Broadway less than four years ago, in late 2022. Classics are classics for a reason, and some plays lead the pack in their repeated popularity over the decades. If you’ve ever wondered which are brought back the most, look no further!
Arthur Miller’s drama Death of Salesman is not the record holder here, but it has played Broadway six times following its original 1949 production: in 1975 with George C. Scott, in 1984 with Dustin Hoffman, in 1999 with Brian Dennehy, in 2012 with Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the aforementioned two recent productions.
Which play does hold the record? Perhaps quite obviously, the answer is Hamlet – revived 65 times since 1864 and last seen in 2009 starring Jude Law – as Shakespeare’s classics have a multi-century headstart. Following Hamlet, his most-revived plays are The Merchant of Venice (49 revivals), Macbeth (47), Romeo & Juliet (37), and Twelfth Night (30). If we eliminate Shakespeare from consideration, as well as Gilbert & Sullivan’s operettas, our winning playwright is Henrik Ibsen. His Hedda Gabler isn’t quite as old, having premiered in 1898 – and it’s been revived 18 times since, most recently in 2009, with Mary-Louise Parker in the titular role.
Close behind is Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, which was first performed around the same time (1904, in Russia) and has been revived 15 times since its English-language premiere. Its last appearance on Broadway was a decade ago, in 2016, starring Diane Lane. Next is Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, revived 14 times since its 1898 premiere.
Another classic turn-of-the-century playwright whose work is revived nearly as often is George Bernard Shaw. While his most famous work today is Pygmalion (which inspired My Fair Lady), his most-returned-to play is actually Candida, revived 13 times within the twentieth century alone. Candida premiered in 1903 and was revived over a dozen times in 90 years – but it hasn’t been back since 1993! It’s tied with Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, originally performed in 1889 and most recently produced in 2023 starring Jessica Chastain, as well as with Richard Brisley Sheridan’s The School For Scandal – but that play dates back to 1777, so it’s not an even comparison. (Sheridan’s play, like Candida, has not been revived since the 1990s.)
The very same non-Shakespearean playwrights hold the next records, as well: Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People and Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya have been revived 10 times, both most recently in 2024, respectively starring Jeremy Strong and Steve Carell. Right behind are Chekhov’s The Three Sisters (9 revivals), Rostand’s L’Aiglon (9, although none since 1934!), and Sheridan’s The Rivals (also 9, but with a 200-year headstart). Also joining them at nine revivals is The Old Homestead by Denman Thompson, but don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it: those nine productions all played between 1897 and 1913!
When we move down to a mere eight revivals, a legendary twentieth century American playwright from the modern theatrical era joins the list: Tennessee Williams. A Streetcar Named Desire was first produced in 1949, far later the prior record holders, and has returned eight times since. That number ties Shaw’s Saint Joan, originally from 1923, as well as Oscar Wilde’s classic The Importance of Being Earnest, which first played Broadway in 1895. (Also at eight, less impressively, are the older, less well-known plays She Stoops to Conquer, which premiered in 1777, and Louis XI, from 1858.)
Classic plays in the seven revival club include Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie (premiered 1945), Chekhov’s The Seagull (1916), and several classic operas. The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (1935) joins them as the first musical on the list, making it the most revived musical of all time, not counting older operettas.
Finally, joining Death of a Salesman at six revivals are the classic musicals Show Boat (1927, by Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II) and The Threepenny Opera (1928, by Berthold Brecht & Kurt Weill), alongside Shaw’s play Arms and the Man, Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, Shakespeare plays, and more classic operas. A sixth revival of Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will premiere on Broadway next spring, directed by Sam Gold.
As you’ve seen, if we discount Shakespeare and focus on plays written in the last 150 years, the most revived playwrights are easily Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw, and Anton Chekhov. None of these writers are American, however, so as far as twentieth century Broadway playwrights, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller reign supreme.
But you never know who is waiting in the wings…classic American plays like Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night are standing strong at five revivals, as are such beloved musicals as Gypsy, Guys & Dolls, Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, and West Side Story. Any of these could rise on the list in the upcoming Broadway seasons. Which would you like to see back on the stage next?