List of the longest-running Broadway shows in the context of "Wicked (musical)"

Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.

Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the light opera works of Jacques Offenbach in France, Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and the works of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by Edwardian musical comedies, which emerged in Britain, and the musical theatre works of American creators like George M. Cohan at the turn of the 20th century. The Princess Theatre musicals (1915–1918) were artistic steps forward beyond the revues and other frothy entertainments of the early 20th century and led to such groundbreaking works as Show Boat (1927), Of Thee I Sing (1931) and Oklahoma! (1943). Some of the best-known musicals through the decades that followed includeMy Fair Lady (1956), The Fantasticks (1960), Hair (1967), A Chorus Line (1975), Les Misérables (1985), The Phantom of the Opera (1986), Rent (1996), Wicked (2003) and Hamilton (2015).

ABBA (/ˈæbə/ AB-ə [ˈâbːa]) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are among the most renowned and commercially successful musical groups in history.

In 1974, ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with their song "Waterloo". In 2005, "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the competition's history during its 50th anniversary celebration. During their peak, ABBA comprised two married couples: Fältskog and Ulvaeus, and Lyngstad and Andersson. As their fame grew, their personal lives suffered, leading to the dissolution of both marriages. These relationship changes were reflected in the group's later music, which featured darker and more introspective lyrics. After ABBA disbanded in December 1982, Andersson and Ulvaeus continued their success writing music for stage, musicals, and movies, while Fältskog and Lyngstad pursued solo careers. Ten years after the group's breakup, the compilation ABBA Gold was released and became a worldwide best-seller. In 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into Mamma Mia!, a stage musical that toured globally. As of October 2024, it remains one of the ten longest-running productions on Broadway (closed in 2015) and the West End (still running). A film of the same name, released in 2008, became the highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom that year. A sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, was released in 2018.

Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre.

One of the foremost figures in 20th-century theatre, Prince became associated throughout his career with many of the most noteworthy musicals in Broadway history, including West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, and Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running show in Broadway history. Many of his productions broke new ground for musical theater, expanding the possibilities of the form by incorporating more serious and political subjects, such as Nazism (Cabaret), the difficulties of marriage (Company), and the forcible opening of 19th-century Japan (Pacific Overtures).

The Lion King is a stage musical with a book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi based on the 1994 Walt Disney Animation Studios' film of the same name. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well as giant, hollow puppets. The show is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions and features songs from the original film by Elton John and Tim Rice, while the majority of new songs were contributed by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Tsidii Le Loka, Taymor, and Hans Zimmer.

The musical debuted on July 8, 1997, in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Orpheum Theatre and was an instant success before premiering on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theater on October 15, 1997, in many previews with the official opening on November 13, 1997. On June 13, 2006, the Broadway production moved to the Minskoff Theatre to make way for the musical version of Mary Poppins, where it is still running after more than 10,000 performances. It is Broadway's third longest-running show in history and the highest grossing Broadway production of all time, having grossed more than $1.9 billion.

Jonathan David Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright, most famous for writing the musicals Rent and Tick, Tick... Boom!, which explored the social issues of multiculturalism, substance use disorder, and homophobia.

Larson had worked on both musicals throughout the late 1980s and into the 1990s. After several years of workshopping, Rent began an off-Broadway run in early 1996, though Larson died from an aortic dissection the day before its first preview performance. The show went on to enjoy critical and commercial success, and transferred to Broadway that April, one of the longest-running Broadway productions. Larson posthumously received three Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Rent was also adapted into a 2005 film. Tick, Tick... Boom! received an off-Broadway production in 2001, and was also adapted into a 2021 film.