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.
List
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 4 July 2017, unless otherwise stated.
# | Title | Genre | Opening date |
Closing date |
Performances | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Mousetrap | P | 25 November 1952 | 26,945 | Currently running at the St. Martin's Theatre
| |
2 | Les Misérables | M | 8 October 1985 | 13,124 | Currently running at the Queen's Theatre
| |
3 | The Phantom of the Opera | M | 9 October 1986 | 12,793 | Currently running at Her Majesty's Theatre | |
4 | The Woman in Black | P | 7 June 1989 | 11,488 | Currently running at Fortune Theatre | |
5 | Blood Brothers | M | 28 July 1988 | 10 November 2012 | 10,013 | |
6 | Cats | M | 11 May 1981 | 11 May 2002 | 8,949 | Opened in London at the New London Theatre
|
7 | Mamma Mia! | M | 6 April 1999 | 7,652 | Currently running at Novello Theatre
| |
8 | The Lion King | M | 19 October 1999 | 7,418 | Currently running at Lyceum Theatre | |
9 | Starlight Express | M | 27 March 1984 | 12 January 2002 | 7,406 | |
10 | No Sex Please, We're British | P | 3 June 1971 | 16 January 1987 | 6,761 | |
11 | Chicago | M | 18 October 1997 | 1 September 2012 | 6,187 | This is the longest running revival
|
12 | Stomp | D | 25 September 2002 | 6,284 | Currently running at Ambassadors Theatre
| |
13 | Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story | M | 12 October 1989 | 3 March 2002 | 5,140 | Opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre
|
14 | We Will Rock You | M | 25 September 2002 | 31 May 2014 | 4,659 | |
15 | Wicked | M | 27 September 2006 | 4,567 | Currently running at Apollo Victoria Theatre | |
16 | Billy Elliot the Musical | M | 11 May 2005 | 9 April 2016 | 4,566 | |
17 | Miss Saigon | M | 20 September 1989 | 30 October 1999 | 4,264 | |
18 | Jersey Boys | M | 18 March 2008 | 26 March 2017 | 3,787 | |
19 | The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) | P | 7 March 1996 | 3 April 2005 | 3,744 | |
20 | The 39 Steps | P | 14 September 2006 | 5 September 2015 | 3,731 [note 1] | |
21 | Thriller - Live | R | 26 January 2009 | 3,533 | Currently running at Lyric Theatre | |
22 | Jesus Christ Superstar | M | 9 August 1972 | 23 August 1980 | 3,357 | |
23 | Me and My Girl | M | 12 February 1985 | 16 January 1993 | 3,303 | This is a revival of the 1937 musical. |
24 | Evita | M | 21 June 1978 | 18 February 1986 | 3,176 [note 2] |
Oh! Calcutta! which opened in the West End on 30 September 1970 and closed in either January or February 1980, would have approximately 3,800 performances, but no closing date is known, so proper ranking cannot be made.[note 3]
The next longest running play is There's a Girl in My Soup (1966–1973). The next longest running musical is Oliver! (1960–1966).
See also
Notes
- ↑ According to the show's official Facebook. Source
- ↑ Exact number came from musicalheaven.com and This Is Theatre; 2900 given by Society of London Theatre is an estimate.
- ↑ The Duchess Theatre's next production was Private Lives, which was reviewed in The Times on 8 March 1980; therefore Oh! Calcutta! must have closed in the first two months of 1980.
References
- "Longest running shows in West End history". Society of London Theatre. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.