Who has the most Broadway credits?

[ahmelie]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 6:00pm

I did a search, but found nothing, if there's already a thread than forgive me.

This is something I've been wondering about for the past few days, who has the most Broadway credits to their name? (not including benefits)

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 6:01pm

Philip Bosco has about 50.
Updated On: 1/1/07 at 06:01 PM

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 6:08pm

Harold Prince - He's got about 56 years of working on Broadway.

[Jon]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 6:52pm

Among performers, I'd suspect someone like Tom Aldredge or Marian Seldes (although Seldes did stay in DEATHTRAP for its entire four year run, which would cut down on her total).

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 6:58pm

It seems like WIlliam Ivey Long does every show that opens on broadway, so he might be in the running. I think it said in George Grizzards bio for REGRETS ONLY that he had done 21 broadway plays

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 7:01pm

Nathan Lane has a butt lode of theatre credits but not the most on broadway. Just sayin! :)

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 7:14pm

And a butt lode of something else, too.

[StarStruckGB]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 7:31pm

Uncalled for.

Sorry, I love Nathan Lane a lot too.

Anyway, yeah he does have a lot, the most of any I know anyway.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 7:34pm

What about Chita Rivera I was reading her bio and she had a million, maybe Patti LuPone?

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 7:48pm

My guess is that you'll need to go back to performers, writers and producers who were active near or during the turn of the last century to find someone with the most credits... since shows back then would run a season at most, and often it was possible to appear in two productions within the same season.

Check out people like Ethel Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Florenz Ziegfeld, Katharine Cornell, etc. You'll see some pretty hefty resumes.

Updated On: 1/1/07 at 07:48 PM

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 7:48pm

How many does Joel Grey have?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 7:51pm

It won't be a performer. Designers, creatives and contractors can work on more than one show at a time. Performers cannot.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 7:54pm

I'm guessing the original post was referring to performers, now that I reread it... since they mentioned doing "benefits."

So I shouldn't include Ziegfeld.

Hal Prince shouldn't be included either, then.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 7:59pm

Of actors currently working, Phillip Bosco. Going back in time a bit, he's surpassed by Eva Le Gallienne, who had something like 56 credits as an actress, plus additional ones as director, producer (especially through the American Repertory Company, which she ran), and translator.
Updated On: 1/1/07 at 07:59 PM

[ahmelie]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 8:09pm

I'm interested in both performers and directors, designers etc. since I assume that the person with the greatest amount of credits would be in the latter group, and it would also be interesting to see who of performers had done the most shows.

[myManCape]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 8:18pm

I think this is the winner in the non-performer category.


http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=72125

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 8:22pm

David Belasco had over 100 credits as a producer and director. George M Cohan had over 90 credits if you include his producing, directing, composing, etc... credit. The great grand dame Eva Le Gallienne (through her work with her Civic Rep Company which did several plays a season for decades in the first half of the century) had more than 70 credits if you include her directing, writing and producing credits along with her acting ones.

I haven't discovered many performers (with ONLY acting credits) who have more credits than Bosco, who has more Broadway credits than even Helen Hayes, Katherine Cornell or any of the Barrymores (except Ethel who has roughly the same number of credits -- just over 50). His resume is so huge largely due to having been a member of a couple of rep companies (Lincoln Center Theatre, Circle in the Square) that did several plays on Broadway per season back in the 60s and 70s. Back then it wasn't unusual for him to do 3 or 4 or more plays in a single season -- something that was rare even for actors in the early years of the 20th century.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 8:34pm

If you include Bosco's Off-Broadway credits, he probably has the most. Purely in Broadway credits, Le Gallienne beats him by a few, as of now. When I counted a few months ago, she had several more Broadway acting credtis than he did. But I'm not a perfect counter.

Moving past performers, and only counting individuals (in other words, not counting organizations as individuals or people who own theatres for every production that runs in all the theatres they run), I think the winner might be Jo Mielziner. I count more than 190 shows, and if you count every show on which he was credited for both sets and lighting as two credits, it's much higher.
Updated On: 1/1/07 at 08:34 PM

[wiggum2]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 8:59pm

Didn't Jerry Orbach win an award a few years back saying he had the most hours on a broadway stage or something like that
Updated On: 1/1/07 at 08:59 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 9:03pm

Not sure how. With only 9 Broadway credits (including a few very short-running shows), Orbach wouldn't even be in the top 100 performers all-time in terms of numbers of hours on the Broadway stage.

Updated On: 1/1/07 at 09:03 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 9:05pm

The champs (perhaps)!!!

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 9:06pm

For a living Broadway actor working mostly in the musical theater, George S. Irving certainly has a lot.

http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=67892

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 9:06pm

For a living Broadway actor working mostly in the musical theater, George S. Irving certainly has a lot.

http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=67892

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 9:08pm

Orbach had a relatively small number of Broadway credtis, but he stayed in his long-running shows for long periods of time, adding up to a high number of performances. As opposed to people like Bosco and La Gallienne, who amassed a high number of credits on shows produced by nonprofit companies for limited runs.

Offhand, I'd estimate that Orbach must have played more than 3,000 performances on Broadway. And possibly close to 4,000. About 900 performances in Chicago, maybe about 600 each in Carnival! and Promises, Promises, I think about three years in 42nd Street, plus his other shows. It adds up.
Updated On: 1/1/07 at 09:08 PM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/1/07 at 9:10pm

Cool thread! I guess there's no definitive answer to be found, though.