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 draw in the audiences, leading to better profits and improved production values. The first play to achieve 500 consecutive performances was the London (non-musical) comedy "Our Boys", opening in 1875, which set an astonishing new record of 1,362 performances. This run was not equaled on the musical stage until World War I, but musical theatre soon broke the 500 performance mark in London, most notably by the series of more than a dozen long-running Gilbert and Sullivan family-friendly comic opera hits, including "H.M.S. Pinafore" in 1878 and "The Mikado" in 1885. These were sensations on both sides of the Atlantic