Everyone talks about The Phantom of the Opera and Chicago as Broadway's longest-running shows—but the list isn't all musicals. In addition to those heavy-hitters, there are plenty of straight plays that entertained audiences for years. Look back at the 21 longest-running plays on Broadway below!
How many are you familiar with?
Life with Father (1939) – 3,224
Tobacco Road (1933) – 3,182
Abie's Irish Rose (1922) –2,327
Danny Aiello (left), Anee DeSalvo and Carol Potter in Gemini
Photo by Ken Howard
Deathtrap (1978) – 1,793
Harvey (1944) – 1,775
Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday
Mary, Mary (1961) – 1,572
The Voice of the Turtle (1943) – 1,557
Barefoot in the Park (1963) – 1,532
Ellen Burstyn, Charles Grodin, and director Gene Saks in Same Time, Next Year
Arsenic And Old Lace (1941) – 1,444
Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983) – 1,299
Angel Street (1941) – 1,295
Lightnin' (1918) – 1,291
Lauren Bacall in Cactus Flower
Sleuth (1970) – 1,222
Estelle Getty and Harvey Fierstein in Torch Song Trilogy
Equus (1974) – 1,209
Amadeus (1980) – 1,181
Mister Roberts – 1,157
Click here to see all Broadway shows that ran 1,000 performances or more.
