Which Broadway musical became the first show to surpass 10,000 performances?

The Phantom of the Opera became the first Broadway show to surpass 10,000 performances. The milestone was reached on February 11, 2012, at the Majestic Theatre in New York City.

Andrew Lloyd Webber composed the music, and Charles Hart wrote the lyrics, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. The book was written by Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber. The musical is based on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel and tells of the mysterious Phantom’s obsession with the young soprano Christine Daaé.

The Broadway production opened in January 1988 after its London premiere. It starred Michael Crawford as the Phantom and Sarah Brightman as Christine. The show won seven Tony Awards in 1988, including Best Musical and Best Actor in a Musical for Crawford.

The production closed in April 2023 after more than 13,000 performances. Its record is sometimes confused with records for longest-running Broadway musical by years or highest-grossing show; those categories can produce different comparisons depending on the measure used.