Each year Broadway debuts new musicals and plays but the list of shows includes revivals of old musicals and there are always the long running shows that continue to fill the houses.
This year there are numerous musicals celebrating a variety of anniversary milestones.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Carousel” tops the list, celebrating 80 years. The original production ran for 890 performances. There have since been three revivals of the show. There is also a film adaptation that was released in 1956.
Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra starred in the 1955 film production of “Guys and Dolls”. This year the Broadway musical celebrates 75 years for the Tony Award winning show and ran for 1,200 performances.
“Damn Yankees” debuted 70 years ago in 1955. The Fosse musical ran for over 1,000 performances. Based on the book “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant”, “Damn Yankees” took home the Best Musical Tony Award.
Seventy years ago Rodgers and Hammerstein returned to Broadway with “Oklahoma!” which later was made into a Hollywood film which now resides in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
It was 65 years ago that the Tony Award winning musicals “Bye Bye Birdie” starring Dick van Dyke and Chita Rivera and “Camelot” starring Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet debuted.
In 1965, the hills came alive on Broadway and in theatres with the Tony Award winning musical “The Sound of Music” starring Julie Andrews. The Tony Award winning musical “Man of La Mancha” also opened in 1965 and ran for 2,328 performances.
The Stephen Sondheim musical “Company” is 55 this year. The musical set the record with 14 Tony Award nominations, winning six and in 2022, the musical won again for Best Revival.
The Tony Award winning musical “The Wiz” debuted in 1975 with an all African-American cast starring Stephanie Mills and André de Shields. The show ran for over 1,600 performances and is set for a revival later this month.
Currently running on Broadway as a revival, “Chicago” originally opened 50 years ago. The show holds the record for the longest running revival.
Running for over 6,000 performances, the Tony Award winning musical “A Chorus Line” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” are also celebrating 50 years in 2025.
The Tony Award winning musical “42nd Street” features some spectacular tap dance routines, ran for 3,486 performances. The 2001 revival of the musical ran for over 1,500 performances. This year marks 45 years since the show opened.
It has been 40 years since “Big River” and “Song and Dance” debuted.
“Once on This Island” debuted 35 years algo but lasted less than 500 performances. However, the 2017 revival won Best Revival of a Musical.
“Singin’ in the Rain”, “Smokey Joe’s Café”, “The Myster of Edwin Drood”, and “Victor/Victoria” all debuted 30 years ago.
In 2000 the opera “Aida” got a Broadway makeover and won the Tony Award for Best Score. The show gave nearly 2,000 performances. The show saw a revival in the Netherlands in 2023.
“Contact”, “Seussical”, “The Full Monty”, and “The Wild Party” also debuted 25 years ago.
Based on the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, “Spamalot” made its Broadway debut 20 years ago. The Tony Award winning musical ran for over 1,500 performances and saw a revival in 2023.
“The Light in the Piazza”, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, “The Color Purple”, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, “Little Women”, and the Tony Award winning “Jersey Boys” which ran for over 4,000 performances all made their debuted 20 years ago.
Fifteen years ago “The Scottsboro Boys”, “American Idiot”, “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”, and “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” all made their Broadway debut.
It has been 10 years since Lin-Manuel Miranda stormed on Broadway with his groundbreaking musical “Hamilton”. One of the most in demand productions ,the show packed houses as the hottest ticket on Broadway. The Tony Award winning show continues to run consistently continuing to fill the house.
“Fun Home”, “Something Rotten!”, “Allegiance”, “Finding Neverland”, and “School of Rock” all made their Broadway debuts 10 years ago.