Prince of Wales Theatre seating capacity slightly to 1,160 seats and to modernise the theatre's facilities. New bars were added, the auditorium completely rebuilt, the backstage areas refurbished and the theatre's famous tower and exterior completely gutted and refurbished with new LED lighting and a crisp modern finish. The theatre re-opened with ABBA's musical "Mamma Mia!" on 16 April 2004. On 18 August 2007, "Mamma Mia!" became the longest-running show ever at the Prince of Wales, overtaking the previous record held by "Aspects of Love" with 1,326 performances at the venue and counting. The production marked another landmark on Thursday 23 August 2007, celebrating
Musical Theatre Academy Palladium, and sung on the album "Lift" by Craig Adams and Ian Watson. They have also provided the ensemble for the Tommy Gala at the Prince Edward Theatre, the MMD 20th anniversary Gala at the Novello, and "Julie Atherton – No Space for Air" at the Apollo Theatre. Musical Theatre Academy The Musical Theatre Academy (The MTA) is a drama college based in Islington, London. The MTA opened in 2009 by Annemarie Lewis Thomas running the UK's first accelerated learning programme in triple threat training. It is also the only UK Musical Theatre college to split its acting focus between