What Is the Number One Show on Broadway Right Now?

The number one show on Broadway right now is Hamilton. It’s not just the highest-grossing musical-it’s the only show in history to consistently pull in over $1.5 million in weekly box office sales, even after nearly a decade on stage. Since it opened in 2015, Hamilton has sold over 10 million tickets, and in 2025, it still ranks as the top-grossing show every single week, beating out new openings and long-running hits like The Lion King and Wicked.

Why Hamilton Still Dominates

Hamilton didn’t just win awards-it rewrote the rules of what a Broadway show could be. Lin-Manuel Miranda blended hip-hop, R&B, and traditional show tunes to tell the story of America’s founding fathers through a diverse cast. That fresh sound drew in younger audiences who’d never set foot in a theater before. But it wasn’t just the music. The storytelling, the pacing, the historical twist-it all clicked. People didn’t just go to see Hamilton. They went to experience it.

Even today, tickets sell out months in advance. The average ticket price hovers around $350, with premium seats hitting $800. That’s not just popularity-it’s cultural demand. You won’t find another show on Broadway with that kind of staying power. The Lion King has been running longer, but Hamilton makes more money every single week. Wicked has a massive fanbase, but Hamilton still outsells it by nearly 20% in gross revenue.

How Broadway Rankings Work

When people ask for the “number one” show, they usually mean the highest-grossing one. That’s the standard metric used by The Broadway League, the official trade association. They track weekly box office totals across all 41 Broadway theaters. Gross revenue, not attendance, determines the ranking. So a show with fewer seats but higher ticket prices can top the list.

Attendance matters too, but it’s secondary. For example, The Lion King might sell more tickets because it plays in a larger theater and has lower average prices. But Hamilton’s combination of high demand and premium pricing pushes it to the top of the revenue chart every time.

There’s also critical acclaim and cultural impact, but those don’t show up in the official rankings. Hamilton won 11 Tony Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, and a Grammy. It’s taught in high school history classes. It’s been studied in universities. But none of that would matter if people weren’t lining up to buy tickets.

What’s Close Behind?

Hamilton’s closest competitors in 2025 are Wicked and The Lion King. Wicked, which opened in 2003, is still a powerhouse. It’s the second-highest grossing show, pulling in about $1.2 million per week on average. But that’s still $300,000 less than Hamilton. The Lion King, which has been running since 1997, averages $1.1 million a week. It’s the longest-running show on Broadway, but it doesn’t make as much per show.

Newer hits like Hadestown and Moulin Rouge! have had strong runs, but they’ve never cracked the top three in weekly grosses. Even the 2024 smash, The Outsiders, which sold out its entire run in advance, peaked at $1.05 million a week-still below Hamilton.

What’s interesting is that none of these shows have come close to matching Hamilton’s ticket demand over time. The show has sold out for over 1,000 consecutive performances. That’s longer than any other musical in Broadway history.

Why No New Show Has Taken Over

You’d think that after ten years, something would have dethroned Hamilton. But Broadway doesn’t work like pop music. A new hit might dominate for six months, then fade. Hamilton built a loyal fanbase that keeps coming back. People see it for the first time as teens, then bring their kids. It’s become a rite of passage.

Plus, the show’s structure makes it repeatable. The music is layered, the lyrics dense-you notice new details every time you watch. And with the original cast long gone, each new ensemble brings something fresh. The script hasn’t changed, but the energy has. That keeps it feeling alive.

Other shows rely on spectacle. Hamilton relies on storytelling. You don’t need flying monkeys or giant puppets. Just a cast, a stage, and a beat. That simplicity is part of why it endures.

What About Ticket Availability?

If you want to see Hamilton today, you’ll need to plan ahead. The official ticketing site, hamiltonbroadway.com, releases new dates every month. Tickets for January 2026 sold out in under 12 hours. The lottery system-where you can win $10 seats-gets over 100,000 entries per performance.

Scalpers still try to cash in, but the show’s producers have cracked down hard. They’ve partnered with Ticketmaster to block bots and limit resales. Even secondary market prices are controlled. The average resale price is $450, not the $1,200 you’d see for a sold-out concert.

There’s also the digital option: the filmed version of the original cast is available on Disney+. But that’s not the same as being in the theater. The energy, the crowd, the live bassline-it’s a different experience entirely. That’s why people still wait months just to get a seat.

Is Hamilton Really That Big Outside New York?

Yes. The national tour has played in over 60 cities since 2017. Every stop sells out. Chicago’s run lasted over three years. San Francisco’s sold over 1.2 million tickets. Even smaller cities like Des Moines and Oklahoma City had waitlists.

It’s not just a New York phenomenon. Hamilton became a global brand. It’s been performed in London, Australia, and Germany. The German version, titled Hamilton: Das Musical, opened in 2023 and sold out its entire first season.

That’s rare. Most Broadway shows stay local. Hamilton went global-and kept its momentum.

What’s Next for Broadway?

Will Hamilton ever be dethroned? Maybe. But not soon. The next show that could challenge it would need to do three things: be culturally defining, have broad appeal across age groups, and generate repeat attendance. So far, nothing has.

There are rumors of a new Lin-Manuel Miranda project, possibly about the civil rights movement. If it lands on Broadway, it could be the first real threat in a decade. But until then, Hamilton remains the undisputed king.

For now, if you want to know what the number one show on Broadway is, the answer hasn’t changed: it’s Hamilton. And it’s not even close.