List of the longest-running West End shows

This is a list of long running shows (3,000 performances or more) in the West End, a well known professional theatre district in London, England. Unless otherwise states, the number of performances listed is for the original West End production of the show. M denotes a musical, P denotes a straight play, R denotes a revue, D denotes a dance musical, and S denotes a special case. An asterisk indicates an announced closing date for a currently-running show. All currently-running shows are updated as of April 19, 2016, unless otherwise stated.

# Title Genre Opening
date		 Closing
date		 Performances Comment
1 The Mousetrap P November 25, 1952 26,439 Currently running at the St. Martin's Theatre
  • 6 October 1952 – Production premiere at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham
  • 25 November 1952 – Opened in the West End at the New Ambassadors Theatre
  • 22 April 1955 – 1,000 performances
  • 13 September 1957 – Longest-running West End play
  • 12 April 1958 – Longest-running West End show overall, 2239 performances
  • 9 December 1964 – 5,000 performances
  • 23 March 1974 – Closed for 2 days to transfer to the St. Martin's Theatre
  • 25 March 1974 – Re-opened at the St. Martin's Theatre, retaining initial run status
  • 17 December 1976 – 10,000 performances
  • 16 December 2000 – 20,000 performances
  • 25 November 2002 – 50th Anniversary
  • 18 November 2012 - 25,000 performances
  • 1965 & 1999 – Sets, costumes and props replaced
2 Les Misérables M October 8, 1985 12,621 Currently running at the Queen's Theatre
  • Opened at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Barbican Theatre.
  • Transferred to the Palace Theatre on the West End on 5 December 1985.
  • Transferred to the Queen's Theatre in April, 2004.
3 The Phantom of the Opera M October 9, 1986 12,289 Currently running at Her Majesty's Theatre
4 The Woman in Black P June 7, 1989 11,000 [note 1] Currently running at Fortune Theatre
5 Blood Brothers M July 28, 1988 November 10, 2012 10,013
6 Cats M May 11, 1981 May 11, 2002 8,949 Opened in London at the New London Theatre
  • The show closed on its 21st anniversary, where it was broadcast in Covent Garden for those who couldn't acquire a ticket
  • It held the record for longest running West End Musical for four years before it was overtaken by Les Misérables, the current record holder.
7 Starlight Express M March 27, 1984 January 12, 2002 7,406
8 Mamma Mia! M April 6, 1999 7,144 Currently running at Novello Theatre
9 The Lion King M October 19, 1999 6,913 Currently running at Lyceum Theatre
10 No Sex Please, We're British P June 3, 1971 January 16, 1987 6,761
11 Chicago M October 18, 1997 September 1, 2012 6,187 This is the longest running revival
12 Stomp D September 25, 2002 5,770 Currently running at Ambassadors Theatre
13 Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story M October 12, 1989 March 3, 2002 5,140 Opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre
14 We Will Rock You M September 25, 2002 May 31, 2014 4,659
15 Billy Elliot the Musical M May 11, 2005 April 9, 2016 4,566
16 Miss Saigon M September 20, 1989 October 30, 1999 4,264
17 Wicked M September 27, 2006 4,024 Currently running at Apollo Victoria Theatre
18 The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) P March 7, 1996 April 3, 2005 3,744
19 The 39 Steps P September 14, 2006 September 5, 2015 3,731 [note 2]
20 Jersey Boys M March 18, 2008 March 26, 2017 3,395 Currently running at Piccadilly Theatre
21 Jesus Christ Superstar M August 9, 1972 August 23, 1980 3,357
22 Me and My Girl M February 12, 1985 January 16, 1993 3,303 This is a revival of the 1937 musical.
23 Evita M June 21, 1978 February 18, 1986 3,176 [note 3]
24 Thriller - Live R January 26, 2009 3,045 Currently running at Lyric Theatre

Oh! Calcutta! should be on the list, as it opened in the West End on September 30, 1970 and closed in either January or February 1980.[note 4] If it played the standard eight shows a week throughout its run, it would have been performed about 3,800 times. It should be ranked 17th or 18th, but it is impossible to know which because of the close margin between number of performances.

The next longest running play is There's a Girl in My Soup (1966–1973). The next longest running musical is Oliver! (1960–1966). War Horse ran for almost seven years (2009-2016), which should put its number of performances close to 3,000 (approximately 2,800), but there is no official number available because lists usually are of the longest-running West End musicals.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ As per a TripAdvisor review posted in April 2016. The last concrete number available was 10,998 performances as of April 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ According to the show's official Facebook. Source
  3. ↑ Exact number came from musicalheaven.com and This Is Theatre; 2900 given by Society of London Theatre is an estimate.
  4. ↑ No closing date is known for the production, only that it was in 1980. The Duchess Theatre's next production was Private Lives, which was reviewed in The Times on March 8, 1980; therefore it can be inferred that Oh! Calcutta! closed in the first two months of 1980.

References

External links

  1. ↑ "Longest running shows in West End history". Society of London Theatre. April 19, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
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