London's Longest Running Shows
London's Longest Running Shows
Others open and enjoy long and lucrative runs, just look at Cats, Les Miserables and Blood Brothers, with the latter two still showing in the West End.
Theatreland has a high standard to maintain and while some London shows just don't cut the mustard - Too Close to the Sun flopped after just a few weeks on the big stage - others seem to close without much in the way of obvious reasoning. West End favorite, Hairspray, ended its West End run earlier this year after just two-and-a-half-years at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
It seems it is praiseworthy indeed if a London show can stand the test of time; playing in the West End for years.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats opened on 11 May 1981 at the New London Theatre. A great success, Cats ran until 2002 setting a record for the longest-running West End musical with an impressive 8,949 performances during 21 years on stage. A top London show Cats also became the longest-running Broadway show, running from 1982-2000. Marlene Danielle performed in the Broadway show for its entire run.
Les Miserable opened on 8 October 1985 at the Barbican Theatre and still plays today at the Queen's Theatre. Unpopular when it first opened, Les Miserables eventually endeared itself to audiences and on 8 October 2006 overtook Cats as the longest running musical in the West End, celebrating 21 years and 9,500 performances in Theatreland.
Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and Willy Russell's top London show Blood Brothers have also exceeded Cats' astonishingly long West End run. Phantom opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on 9 October 1986 where it is still going strong and is great as part of a London theatre break.
A successful and emotive show, Blood Brothers opened briefly at the Lyric Theatre in 1983 before being revived at the Albery Theatre on 28 July 1988 and transferring to the Phoenix Theatre in 1992. The fantastic London show has starred four of the Nolan sisters and former spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, all of whom played the leading role of Mrs Johnstone.
The longest running show in the world is of course Agatha Christie's murder mystery, The Mousetrap, which opened at the Ambassador's Theatre in 1952. These days the show calls St Martin's theatre home, and is going strong with audiences still amazed by the clever twist in the tale.
A handful of West End productions have survived the test of time and for this they deserve plenty of recognition. Good ticket sales indicate a show's success but as Hairspray proves, not all successful shows enjoy a long run. If you want to see a top London show, it's best to book a theatre break now before it leaves the West End.
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