List of the longest-running West End shows

See also: Long runs on the London stage since 1700

This is a list of the longest-running shows (3,000 performances or more) in the West End, a well known professional theatre district in London. Nine currently running shows (two plays, seven musicals) have played more than 3,000 performances: The Mousetrap, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, The Lion King, Wicked, Matilda, The Book of Mormon, and The Play That Goes Wrong.

List

Unless otherwise stated, 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 shows that are currently running are bolded.

#	Title	Genre	Opening date	Closing date	Performances	Comment
1	The Mousetrap	P	25 November 1952		29,547	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 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 1965 & 1999 – Sets, costumes and props replaced 23 March 1974 – Closed for 2 days to transfer to the St Martin's Theatre, retaining initial run status 17 December 1976 – 10,000 performances 16 December 2000 – 20,000 performances 18 November 2012 – 25,000 performances 16 March 2020 – closed for 1 year, 2 months and 1 day due to COVID-19 pandemic, re-opened 17 May 2021
2	Les Misérables	M	8 October 1985		15,000 ^[note 1]	Currently running at the Sondheim Theatre (formerly the Queen's Theatre) Opened at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Barbican Centre Transferred to the Palace Theatre on the West End on 5 December 1985 Transferred to the Queen's Theatre in April 2004 The longest-running West End musical The original production closed on 13 July 2019. It was replaced by a concert version at the Gielgud Theatre from 10 August 2019 until 2 December 2019 and subsequently a new staging at the refurbished Queen's Theatre (now Sondheim Theatre) from 16 January 2020
3	The Phantom of the Opera	M	9 October 1986		14,255	Currently running at His Majesty's Theatre The original production played its final performance on 15 March 2020, just before the shutdown of West End theatres as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. It was replaced in 2021 with an updated staging, which played its first performance on 27 July 2021.
4	The Woman in Black	P	11 January 1989	4 March 2023	13,232	Premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough on 12 December 1987 Opened at the Lyric Hammersmith Transferred to the Strand Theatre (now the Novello Theatre) on 15 February 1989 Transferred to the Playhouse Theatre on 19 April 1989 Transferred to the Fortune Theatre on 7 June 1989
5	Blood Brothers (revival)	M	28 July 1988	10 November 2012	10,013	Opened at the Albery Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) Transferred to the Phoenix Theatre on 21 November 1991 The longest-running West End revival
6	Mamma Mia!	M	6 April 1999		9,144	Currently running at Novello Theatre The longest running jukebox musical Opened at the Prince Edward Theatre Moved to the Prince of Wales Theatre on 9 June 2004 Moved to Novello Theatre in September 2012
7	Cats	M	11 May 1981	11 May 2002	8,949	Opened in London at the New London Theatre (now the Gillian Lynne Theatre) The show closed on its 21st anniversary, when it was broadcast in Covent Garden for those who could not acquire a ticket It held the record for longest-running West End musical for 17 years before it was overtaken by Les Misérables, the current record holder.
8	The Lion King	M	19 October 1999		8,897	Currently running at Lyceum Theatre
9	Starlight Express	M	27 March 1984	12 January 2002	7,406
10	Wicked	M	27 September 2006		6,762 ^[note 2]	Currently running at Apollo Victoria Theatre
11	No Sex Please, We're British	P	3 June 1971	5 September 1987	6,761	Opened at the Strand Theatre, transferred to the Garrick and Duchess Theatres during the run.
12	Stomp	D	25 September 2002	7 January 2018	6,512	Opened at the Vaudeville Theatre Moved to the Ambassadors Theatre on 27 September 2007
13	Chicago (revival)	M	18 October 1997	1 September 2012	6,187	Opened at the Adelphi Theatre Moved to the Cambridge Theatre in April 2006 Moved to the Garrick Theatre in November 2011
14	Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story	M	12 October 1989	3 March 2002	5,140	Opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre Moved to the Strand Theatre (now the Novello Theatre) in October 1995
15	We Will Rock You	M	14 May 2002	31 May 2014	4,659
16	Thriller - Live	R	26 January 2009	15 March 2020	4,657
17	Billy Elliot the Musical	M	11 May 2005	9 April 2016	4,566
18	Matilda	M	24 November 2011		4,538 ^[note 3]	Currently running at Cambridge Theatre
19	Miss Saigon	M	20 September 1989	30 October 1999	4,264
20	Oh! Calcutta!	R	30 September 1970	2 February 1980^[1]	3,918^[2]
21	Jersey Boys	M	18 March 2008	26 March 2017	3,787
22	The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)	P	7 March 1996	3 April 2005	3,744
23	The 39 Steps	P	14 September 2006	5 September 2015	3,731 ^[note 4]
24	The Book of Mormon	M	21 March 2013		3,391^[note 5]	Currently running at Prince of Wales Theatre
25	Jesus Christ Superstar	M	9 August 1972	23 August 1980	3,357	It held the record for longest-running West End musical before it was overtaken by Cats in 1989^[note 6]
26	Me and My Girl	M	12 February 1985	16 January 1993	3,303	This is a revival of the 1937 musical.
27	Evita	M	21 June 1978	18 February 1986	3,182 ^[note 7]
28	The Play That Goes Wrong	P	14 September 2014		3,000 ^[note 8]	Currently running at Duchess Theatre

See also

• Long-running musical theatre productions
• List of the longest-running Broadway shows

Notes

1. As of 28 September 2023, according to the show's official twitter. Source
2. As of 24 April 2024. Source
3. As of 2 March 2024
4. According to the show's official Facebook. Source
5. As of 20 December 2022. [1]
6. Sternfeld, Jessica (2006). The Megamusical. Indiana University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-253-34793-0.
7. Exact number came from musicalheaven.com and This Is Theatre; 2900 given by Society of London Theatre is an estimate.
8. According to the show's official website, which announced it was celebrating the 2,999th performance on 19 January 2023.

References

• "Longest running shows in West End history". Society of London Theatre. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.

1. "The Duchess Theatre, London", Thisistheatre.com, accessed 2 May 2020
2. Tynan, Kenneth, The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan, A&C Black (2002), p. 76, footnote 1