A Record Run for "Mamma Mia!"

We're talking about the Broadway version of Mamma Mia here. This week the stage version moved up a notch on the list of shows with the longest Broadway run.

It moved past the 2,845th performance, which moves it into 16th place, passing Hello, Dolly! As Mark Evanier writes in this entry on his "News From ME" blog, there's a reason why a show like Mamma Mia! has lasted so long:

One could argue, of course, that Mamma Mia enjoys a big advantage over Hello, Dolly! in that Mamma Mia is pretty much a starless show. People went to see Hello, Dolly! because Carol was in it...or Pearl or Ethel or some other huge force of theatrical nature. The long run on a star-driven show is often dependent on how long the star will stick around and drive. If Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were still doing The Producers, it might still be running.

But the achievement of Mamma Mia is still quite impressive. A few months ago, it passed My Fair Lady... and at the rate it's going, it will almost certainly outlast Tobacco Road (3182 performances), Life With Father (3224), the original Fiddler on the Roof (3242), the original Grease (3388) and the original 42nd Street (3486). If and when it eclipses the last of these, it will be the 11th longest-running Broadway show of all time. After that, it just might stick around long enough to beat Miss Saigon (4097) and crack the Top Ten. That would take three more years but since it's still selling out after seven years, that seems quite possible.

And just in case you're wondering what shows are in the top 25, here's the list as it stood about on July 20, 2008 (which is the newest information I've been able to track down - you can add about 40 shows to the ones marked with an asterisk (*) - they're still running). All totals are for the original Broadway run (except where noted).

1. * The Phantom of the Opera 8519
2. Cats 7485
3. Les Misérables 6680
4. A Chorus Line 6137
5. Oh! Calcutta! (Revival) 5959
6. Beauty and the Beast 5461
7. Rent 5083 (closes Sept. 7)
8. Chicago (Revival) 4836
9. * The Lion King 4468
10. Miss Saigon 4097
11. 42nd Street 3486
12. Grease 3388
13. Fiddler on the Roof 3242
14. Life With Father 3224
15. Tobacco Road 3182
16. Hello, Dolly! 2844
17. * Mamma Mia! 2806
18. My Fair Lady 2717
19. The Producers 2502
20. * Hairspray 2441
21. Cabaret (Revival) 2378
22. Annie 2377
23. Man of La Mancha 2328
24. Abie's Irish Rose 2327
25. Oklahoma! 2212

You can see a more complete list right here at Playbill.com.