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
Musical theatre forms. As transportation improved, poverty in London and New York diminished, and street lighting made for safer travel at night, the number of patrons for the growing number of theatres increased enormously. Plays ran longer, leading to better profits and improved production values, and men began to bring their families to the theatre. The first musical theatre piece to exceed 500 consecutive performances was the French operetta "The Chimes of Normandy" in 1878. English comic opera adopted many of the successful ideas of European operetta, none more successfully than the series of more than a dozen long-running Gilbert and Sullivan