Elton John – Broadway's Best Shows

Which Broadway shows have won the most Tony Awards?

Broadway’s clearest indicator of notoriety is the Tony Awards. The annual ceremony has been celebrating excellence in New York theater since 1947 and has made actors, creators, and shows themselves become household names.

In our list, we’ll be listing which Broadway shows have won the most Tony Awards for a single production, though we’re giving shout-outs to Cabaret, Death of a Salesman, and La Cage Aux Folles as each has collected an impressive number of awards over their multiple productions throughout the years. So if awards mean the best Broadway shows to you, then see below.

The Producers by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan

It may come as a surprise but the record for most Tony wins by a single production was set over 20 years ago.

Back in 2001, Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan brought their hilarious 1967 film, The Producers, to the stage. The meta-musical about a pair of money-hungry Broadway producers who want to purposefully put on the worst show possible to fraudulently make money wowed audiences and critics. Nathan Lane starred alongside Matthew Broderick (both of whom would go on to star in the 2005 film adaptation) with Nathan Lane winning the coveted Best Actor in a Musical Tony Award.

Nathan Lane’s award is just one win of a whopping 12 as The Producers won in every single category it was nominated in, losing out only when multiple actors were nominated for the same award.

Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda

You’d be forgiven if you believed Hamilton was top of the list when it comes to wins as it holds the record for most Tony Award nominations for a single production. Back in 2016, Hamilton was nominated for a staggering 16 awards in 13 categories. It was believed that it would equal or surpass The Producers as the Broadway show with the most Tony wins, but alas, it came home with 11. Wins include Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Costume Design in a Musical, and Best Choreography.

Though Lin-Manuel Miranda lost the Best Actor in a Musical award to cast-mate Leslie Odom Jr., he still won two awards – one for Best Original Score and one for Best Book of a Musical.

Billy Elliot by Elton John and Lee Hall

After the surprise run-away success of the independent film and considering its subject matter, it was no surprise when a stage adaptation of Billy Elliot hit the West End in 2006. Two years later, Billy Elliot the Musical came to Broadway sealing its status as “a global theatrical phenomenon” (Los Angeles Times).

In 2009, Billy Elliot the Musical was nominated for 15 awards (the same number of nominations as The Producers received) and won 11. The most notable award was that of Best Actor in a Musical as the three young actors – David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish – who shared the role of Billy shared a single nomination and win.

South Pacific by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan

If you were going to use cumulative Tony Award wins as a metric, South Pacific would be at the absolute top of the list.

During its first Broadway production in 1950, the Rodgers and Hammerstein masterpiece firmly cemented its place in Broadway history as one of the greatest musicals of all time. Not only did it win over audiences and critics, it also won every single Tony Award it was nominated for and a Pulitzer. In fact, it’s still the only production in history to win all four of the acting awards in the same year.

Since its premiere, there have been productions of South Pacific all over the world including multiple Broadway revivals each garnering praise and accolades in their own right. Its 2008 Broadway revival won seven further Tony Awards bringing the show’s cumulative total to an unbelievable 17.

Fiddler On The Roof by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein

Almost 60 years ago, Fiddler on the Roof took Broadway by storm. When it first opened in 1964, the now-classic musical wowed audiences and became the first Broadway musical to run for more than 3,000 shows. In fact, the original production won nine Tony Awards in 1965 and then received a special Tony Award in 1972 for the longest-running Musical in Broadway History bringing the total to 10.

Since its initial run, Fiddler on the Roof has had five revivals but has only received one further Tony Award.

Other shows that have been awarded 10 Tony Awards for a single production include David Yazbek’s The Band’s Visit and John Logan’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

What are Broadway’s longest-running shows?

New shows come to town all the time. But there are those long-standing favorites that feel like they just belong in New York City. In our list, we’ll be including the longest-running Broadway shows of a single production – past and present. And you know what they say: only the best Broadway shows have runs like these.

The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart

With an unbelievable 13,981 performances, The Phantom of the Opera easily tops the list. For 36 years it took residence in the Majestic Theater where it ran from January 26 1988 to April 16 2023.

When it first opened, it won seven Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards. It was the first Broadway musical in history to surpass 10,000 performances and has had over 3,500 more performances than the second longest-running Broadway show in history – that’s over eight years of performances! With a record like that, it really is one of the best Broadway shows.

Chicago (1996 revival) by John Kander and Fred Ebb

Chicago’s original 1975 production ran for a respectable 936 performances. But it was its second coming, the 1996 revival, that made it a show everyone knows and loves.

Following a showcase in the City Center Encores! series, Barry and Fran Weissler brought an expanded, revised, and jazzed-up production of the Encores! concert to the Richard Rodgers Theater (the same theater the original production was staged). After rave reviews and six Tony Awards, it was an undeniable hit and had to be moved to the larger Shubert Theater in 1997. It stayed there for seven years until it was moved for a second time to the Ambassadors Theater in 2014 where it still runs today.

So far, it’s had over 10,400 performances and is the longest-running revival in Broadway history.

The Lion King by Elton John and Tim Rice

The groundbreaking stage adaptation of Disney’s animated film of the same name left both children and adults filled with wonder. Featuring giant puppets and unforgettable songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, The Lion King had audiences stampeding to the theater to watch the incredible show.

It originally opened at the New Amsterdam Theater in 1997 before moving to the Minskoff Theater in 2006. Its current performance count stands at over 10,000 which has resulted in over $1 billion in gross sales making it the highest-grossing Broadway production of all time.

Wicked by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman

Leaving other shows green with envy is Wicked – the original musical based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel of the same name. Focusing on the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, the colorful, whimsical, and crowd-pleasing show reframed our preconceptions of the previously hateful character and gave us another perspective.

The original production opened in 2003 at the Gershwin Theater and starred Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel – making both household names. So far, it’s had over 7,500 performances and with a film adaptation starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo coming up, we don’t see it going anywhere for a long time.

Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Based on the 1939 poetry collection by T.S. Eliot, Cats is a sung-through musical about a tribe of cats who are trying to decide which among them will be ascended to the Heaviside Layer before coming back to a new life. The surreal show opened in 1982 and was unlike anything seen on Broadway before. It won seven Tony Awards and a Grammy making it a must-see show.

It opened at the Winter Garden Theater on October 7 1982 where it ran until its close on September 10 2000. It was the first Broadway show to reach over 7,000 performances reaching 7,485 performances when it closed.

It looks as though Cats will happily perch at number five on the list for a while as the next show on the list that’s currently open is The Book of Mormon which sits with 4,400 performances which, again, would take approximately eight years to overtake Cats.