Defining Broadway Broadway shows have the strictest guidelines to earn their moniker. In addition to having 500 seats or greater, they must be located in the Theatre District (around Times Square in Midtown, Manhattan) and in venues certified by The Broadway League, the trade association for the Broadway industry.

The Lion King sits at the top, with a Broadway gross of $1.9 billion. Dates refer to original Broadway productions, with notes added for future productions that outran the Broadway run.

Broadway is largely known for musicals, but there are plenty of non-musical plays on Broadway, too. They have just as much drama, intrigue, and thrill, be it comic or tragic. Alongside revivals of classical works are an ever-rotating lineup of new plays by fresh voices — and often with big names attached.