Prince Edward Theatre original name, reopening with the world première of the musical "Evita" on 21 June 1978. Further renovations were undertaken by RHWL in 1992–93, increasing the size of the stage, reopening 3 March 1993 with a revival of "Crazy for You". The ABBA musical, "Mamma Mia!" premièred here on 6 April 1999, transferring to the Prince of Wales Theatre, after a five-year run. Owned by the Delfont Mackintosh Group, and with a capacity of 1,716, it formerly hosted "Mary Poppins" until 12 January 2008, before the show toured the UK. "Jersey Boys" opened on 18 March 2008 and moved to the
Development of musical theatre the theatre. Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarthy's 1919 hit musical "Irene" ran for 670 performances, a Broadway record that held until 1938's "Hellzapoppin". The British public supported far longer runs like that of "Maid of the Mountains" (1,352 performances) and especially "Chu Chin Chow". Its run of 2,238 performances was more than twice as many as any previous musical, setting a record that stood for nearly forty years until "Salad Days". Revues like "The Bing Boys Are Here" in Britain, and those of Florenz Ziegfeld and his imitators in America, were also extraordinarily popular. A new generation of composers of