Popularity ranking · South Africa

The 100 most popular Musicals in South Africa

This curated ranking covers the 100 largest musicals in South Africa, ordered by estimated audience size from Rascasse's anonymized search-behavior signals. Out of 145 musicals tracked in South Africa, the 100 ranked here account for the largest measured audience reach. Chess (musical), Chicago (musical) and Lord of the Rings (musical) lead the list with a combined estimated audience of 732k people. Across all 100 entries the average audience size is 25k, and the largest, Chess (musical), reaches around 422k people in South Africa. Audience size is the estimated number of unique people in South Africa who actively engage with each musical, derived from search demand signals. Rankings reflect search-behavior signals collected across South Africa and are refreshed weekly.

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How to read this list

Rank

Position in the Top 100, sorted by audience size from largest to smallest. Updated weekly.

Audience size

Estimated number of unique people in South Africa who actively engage with this audience, derived from anonymized search-behavior signals.

Country share

Share of the global audience that is active in South Africa. A higher value means the audience is more locally concentrated here.

Avg age

Average age in years across the people who engage with this audience in South Africa, derived from anonymized search-behavior signals. A dash means demographic data is not yet available.

Female share

Share of women among the people who engage with this audience in South Africa. 50% is gender-balanced; values above mean female-skewed, below mean male-skewed.

Ranking

Rank Audience Audience size Avg age Female share Subtype
26 Ovo (Cirque du Soleil) 25k 34.7 88.3%
27 Gypsy (musical) 24k 27.6 83.1%
28 Milk and Honey (musical) 24k 36.3 80.9%
29 Requiem (Mozart) 21k 50.0 67.2%
30 Candide (operetta) 21k 51.7 100.0%
31 Allegiance (musical) 18k 42.2 52.1%
32 The Color Purple (musical) 18k 45.0 65.5%
33 Swan Lake 17k 45.1 73.7% Musical
34 Beauty and the Beast (musical) 17k 33.0 67.1%
35 Waitress (Musical) 15k 43.3 79.7%
36 Hairspray (musical) 15k 24.1 84.1%
37 Rock of Ages (musical) 14k 27.8 42.7%
38 Macbeth (opera) 14k 23.7 24.3% Musical
39 We Will Rock You (musical) 14k 43.4 60.7%
40 War Horse (play) 13k 46.2 72.8%
41 The Phantom of the Opera 13k 54.9 89.4% Musical
42 Little Shop of Horrors (musical) 12k 40.0 84.5% Musical
43 The Tempest (opera) 11k 38.9 81.4%
44 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical) 11k 41.3 70.5%
45 West Side Story 11k 38.7 63.0%
46 Jesus Christ Superstar 11k 36.9 79.1% Musical
47 Fiddler on the Roof 10k 49.1 69.1% Musical
48 The Book of Mormon (musical) 10k 40.0 53.2%
49 We Will Rock You 10k 39.6 71.8%
50 Beauty and the Beast 10k 30.5 74.3%

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Frequently asked questions

How is this list of the most popular musicals compiled?

Rascasse aggregates anonymized search-behavior signals across South Africa and ranks each musical by its estimated audience size. Only entries with at least 5 measured entities are listed.

How often is the list updated?

The ranking is refreshed weekly from the latest search-behavior data and re-published as a static page.

What is the largest musical in South Africa?

Chess (musical) currently leads with an estimated audience of 422k people in South Africa.

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