In 2012, which musical overtook The Phantom of the Opera to become the highest grossing show in Broadway history?
Wicked (musical) surpassed $1 billion in total Broadway revenue, joining both "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Lion King" as the only Broadway shows to do so. In July 2017, "Wicked" surpassed "The Phantom of the Opera" as Broadway's second-highest grossing show, trailing only "The Lion King". Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz discovered writer Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" while on vacation, and saw its potential for a dramatic adaptation. Maguire, however, had released the rights to Universal Pictures, which had planned to develop a live-action feature film. In 1998,
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical) and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, and Michael Crawford (in the title role) won the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical. It is the longest running show in Broadway history by a wide margin, and celebrated its 10,000th Broadway performance on 11 February 2012, the first production ever to do so. It is the second longest-running West End musical, after "Les Misérables", and the third longest-running West End show overall, after "The Mousetrap". With total estimated worldwide gross receipts of over $5.6 billion and total Broadway gross of $845 million, "Phantom" was the most