Neil Simon Theatre

By decade125 productions across 11 decades

1. 1920s 3
2. 1930s 15
3. 1940s 22
4. 1950s 13
5. 1960s 16
6. 1970s 8
7. 1980s 16
8. 1990s 11
9. 2000s 5
10. 2010s 15
11. 2020s 1

Counted from the productions we hold, which are Broadway and a partial West End. A quiet decade here can mean a dark theatre and can mean a gap in the record.

Longest runs hereby performances

2002	Hairspray August 15, 2002 · Jack O’Brien	2,642 perf.
1977	Annie April 21, 1977 · Martin Charnin	2,377 perf.
1983	Brighton Beach Memoirs March 27, 1983 · Gene Saks	1,299 perf.
1948	Mister Roberts February 18, 1948	1,157 perf.
1975	Shenandoah January 7, 1975 · Philip Rose	1,050 perf.
2022	MJ The Musical February 1, 2022 · Christopher Wheeldon	1,036 perf.
1962	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum May 8, 1962 · George Abbott	964 perf.
1955	No Time for Sergeants October 20, 1955 · Morton Da Costa	796 perf.

Ranked among the 122 runs here that carry a performance count. 3 do not, so a longer run may be sitting outside this table with an empty field.

Everything that played here125 productions

1927	Funny Face November 22, 1927 · Original	244 perf.
1928	Treasure Girl November 8, 1928 · Original	68 perf.
1929	Spring Is Here March 11, 1929 · Original	104 perf.
1930	Girl Crazy October 14, 1930 · Original	272 perf.
1931	Tom Sawyer December 25, 1931 · Original	6 perf.
1931	Wonder Boy October 22, 1931 · Original	44 perf.
1932	Adam Had Two Sons January 20, 1932 · Original	5 perf.
1932	Mourning Becomes Electra May 9, 1932 · Revival	16 perf.
1932	Music in the Air November 8, 1932 · Original	342 perf.
1933	Mary of Scotland November 27, 1933 · Original	248 perf.
1933	Uncle Tom's Cabin May 29, 1933 · Revival	24 perf.
1934	Anything Goes November 21, 1934 · Original	420 perf.
1935	Porgy and Bess October 10, 1935 · Original	124 perf.
1936	Red, Hot, and Blue October 29, 1936 · Original	183 perf.
1937	I’d Rather Be Right November 2, 1937 · Original	290 perf.
1938	The Boys from Syracuse November 23, 1938 · Original	235 perf.
1939	George White's Scandals [1939] August 28, 1939 · Original	120 perf.
1939	Very Warm for May November 17, 1939 · Original	59 perf.
1940	The Fifth Column March 6, 1940 · Original	87 perf.
1940	The Taming of the Shrew February 5, 1940 · Revival	8 perf.
1940	There Shall Be No Night April 29, 1940 · Original	115 perf.
1941	Lady in the Dark January 23, 1941 · Original	467 perf.
1942	Angna Enters December 27, 1942 · Original
1942	Laugh, Town, Laugh! June 22, 1942 · Original	65 perf.
1942	Once Over Lightly November 19, 1942 · Original	6 perf.
1943	Something for the Boys January 7, 1943 · Original	422 perf.
1944	Helen Goes to Troy April 24, 1944 · Original	97 perf.
1944	Jackpot January 13, 1944 · Original	69 perf.
1944	Sadie Thompson November 16, 1944 · Original	60 perf.
1944	The Maid as Mistress / The Secret of Suzanne May 14, 1944 · Revival	2 perf.
1945	Billion Dollar Baby December 21, 1945 · Original	220 perf.
1945	Hollywood Pinafore May 31, 1945 · Original	52 perf.
1945	Polonaise October 6, 1945 · Original	113 perf.
1945	The Firebrand of Florence March 22, 1945 · Original	43 perf.
1945	The Tempest January 25, 1945 · Revival	100 perf.
1946	A Flag Is Born September 5, 1946 · Original	120 perf.
1946	Cyrano de Bergerac October 8, 1946 · Revival	193 perf.
1946	Joan of Lorraine November 18, 1946 · Original	199 perf.
1947	Man and Superman October 8, 1947 · Revival	295 perf.
1948	Mister Roberts February 18, 1948 · Original	1,157 perf.
1951	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn April 19, 1951 · Original	267 perf.
1951	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn “A New Musical” April 19, 1951 · Original	270 perf.
1951	Darkness at Noon January 13, 1951 · Original	186 perf.
1951	Point of No Return December 13, 1951 · Original	356 perf.
1952	Two’s Company December 15, 1952 · Original	90 perf.
1953	Kind Sir November 4, 1953 · Original	166 perf.
1954	House of Flowers December 30, 1954 · Original	165 perf.
1955	No Time for Sergeants October 20, 1955 · Original	796 perf.
1957	Rumple November 6, 1957 · Original	45 perf.
1958	Jerome Robbins' Ballet: U.S.A. September 4, 1958 · Original	44 perf.
1958	Oh Captain! February 4, 1958 · Original	192 perf.
1959	First Impressions March 19, 1959 · Original	92 perf.
1959	The Girls Against the Boys November 2, 1959 · Original	16 perf.
1960	Greenwillow March 8, 1960 · Original	95 perf.
1960	Les Ballets Africains September 26, 1960 · Revival
1960	Wildcat December 16, 1960 · Original	172 perf.
1962	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum May 8, 1962 · Original	964 perf.
1962	Giants, Sons of Giants January 6, 1962 · Revival	9 perf.
1962	New Faces of 1962 February 1, 1962 · Original	28 perf.
1964	High Spirits April 7, 1964 · Original	375 perf.
1965	Flora, the Red Menace May 11, 1965 · Original	87 perf.
1965	Maurice Chevalier at 77 April 1, 1965 · Original	31 perf.
1965	The Yearling December 10, 1965 · Original	3 perf.
1966	Dinner at Eight September 27, 1966 · Revival	127 perf.
1966	“It’s a Bird... It’s a Plane... It’s Superman” March 29, 1966 · Original	129 perf.
1967	Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead October 16, 1967 · Original	420 perf.
1967	Sherry! March 28, 1967 · Original	72 perf.
1968	The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N April 4, 1968 · Original	29 perf.
1968	The Great White Hope October 3, 1968 · Original	546 perf.
1970	Company April 26, 1970 · Original	705 perf.
1972	Promenade, All! April 16, 1972 · Original	48 perf.
1973	Molly November 1, 1973 · Original	68 perf.
1973	Tricks January 8, 1973 · Original	8 perf.
1974	The Freedom of the City February 17, 1974 · Original	9 perf.
1975	Shenandoah January 7, 1975 · Revival	1,050 perf.
1976	Kings September 27, 1976 · Original	4 perf.
1977	Annie April 21, 1977 · Original	2,377 perf.
1981	Merrily We Roll Along November 16, 1981 · Revival	16 perf.
1982	Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? May 27, 1982 · Original	5 perf.
1982	Little Johnny Jones March 21, 1982 · Revival	1 perf.
1982	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers July 8, 1982 · Original	5 perf.
1982	The Little Prince and the Aviator January 17, 1982 · Original
1982	Your Arms Too Short to Box With God September 9, 1982 · Return-Engagement	69 perf.
1983	Brighton Beach Memoirs March 27, 1983 · Original	1,299 perf.
1985	Biloxi Blues March 28, 1985 · Original	524 perf.
1986	Into the Light October 22, 1986 · Original	6 perf.
1987	Blithe Spirit March 31, 1987 · Revival	104 perf.
1987	Breaking the Code November 15, 1987 · Original	169 perf.
1987	Mort Sahl on Broadway! October 11, 1987 · Original	26 perf.
1988	Ah, Wilderness! June 23, 1988 · Revival	13 perf.
1988	Kenny Loggins on Broadway November 1, 1988 · Original	8 perf.
1988	Long Day's Journey Into Night June 14, 1988 · Revival	28 perf.
1989	Orpheus Descending September 24, 1989 · Revival	97 perf.
1990	Don Cossacks January 23, 1990 · Original	16 perf.
1990	Jackie Mason: Brand New October 17, 1990 · Original	216 perf.
1992	Jake's Women March 24, 1992 · Original	245 perf.
1993	Cyrano - The Musical November 21, 1993 · Original	137 perf.
1994	Basia on Broadway November 14, 1994 · Original	11 perf.
1994	The Rise and Fall of Little Voice May 1, 1994 · Original	9 perf.
1995	Danny Gans on Broadway: The Man of Many Voices November 8, 1995 · Original	6 perf.
1995	Laurie Anderson on Broadway: The Nerve Bible April 6, 1995 · Original	4 perf.
1996	The King and I April 11, 1996 · Revival	780 perf.
1998	Swan Lake October 8, 1998 · Original	124 perf.
1999	Natalie Merchant June 8, 1999 · Original	5 perf.
2000	The Music Man April 27, 2000 · Revival	699 perf.
2001	Mandy Patinkin in Concert September 10, 2001 · Revival	1 perf.
2002	Elaine Stritch At Liberty February 21, 2002 · Original	69 perf.
2002	Hairspray August 15, 2002 · Original	2,642 perf.
2009	Ragtime November 15, 2009 · Revival	65 perf.
2010	Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broadway July 15, 2010 · Original	15 perf.
2010	Rain October 26, 2010 · Revival	300 perf.
2011	Catch Me If You Can April 10, 2011 · Revival	170 perf.
2012	Jesus Christ Superstar March 22, 2012 · Revival	116 perf.
2012	Scandalous November 15, 2012 · Original	29 perf.
2013	Big Fish October 6, 2013 · Original	98 perf.
2014	All The Way March 6, 2014 · Original	131 perf.
2014	The Last Ship October 26, 2014 · Original	105 perf.
2015	Gigi April 8, 2015 · Revival	86 perf.
2015	The Illusionists - Live on Broadway November 19, 2015 · Return-Engagement	64 perf.
2016	Cats July 31, 2016 · Revival	593 perf.
2018	Angels in America: Millennium Approaches March 25, 2018 · Revival	57 perf.
2018	Angels in America: Perestroika March 25, 2018 · Revival	56 perf.
2018	The Cher Show December 3, 2018 · Original	129 perf.
2019	The Illusionists - Magic of the Holidays November 29, 2019 · Return-Engagement	60 perf.
2022	MJ The Musical February 1, 2022 · Original	1,036 perf.

In the literature8 passages

• Music in the Air (subtitled “A Musical Adventure”) originally opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on November 8, 1932, for a then healthy run of 342 performances. The freshness and originality of Oscar Hammerstein II’s book was praised, and his lyrics and Jerome Kern’s glorious music resulted in one of the era’s finest scores and yiel…Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz
• Theatre : Shubert Theatre (during the run, the musical transferred to the Alvin Theatre)Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz
• Theatre : Alvin Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Winter Garden Theatre, the Cort Theatre, and the St. James Theatre)Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz
• Hairspray was as much a fairy tale as the show that had played the same Neil Simon Theatre twenty-five years earlier: Annie. Heavyset Tracy Turnblad’s winding up with knockout Link Larkin was as unlikely as Annie’s getting the world’s richest man to adopt her. Not every mother who grew to be as ample as Edna Turnblad still had a husband d…Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks - Peter Filichia
• After its opening at New York’s Alvin Theatre on 23 January 1941, following a tryout run in Boston, the premiere production of Lady in the Dark, a collaboration with playwright Moss Hart and lyricist Ira Gershwin, ran for an impressive total of 545 performances. Yet the question of “revivability” has dogged Weill’s third American musical…Weill's Musical Theater_ Stages of Reform - Stephen Hinton

What this page does not know

• What played here before Broadway record-keeping starts, and what played here outside it: concerts, benefits, film runs, anything that was not a listed production.
• How long 3 of these runs lasted. We don't have a performance count.
• When 6 of these runs ended. They carry an opening date and no closing date, and they are old enough that they certainly closed. Nobody wrote down the date.