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
Lyric Theatre, London Lyric Theatre, London The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by the architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by the producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, "Dorothy" (he made £100,000 from this opera), which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open his new venue on 17 December 1888. It was the second theatre to be constructed on this stretch of Shaftesbury Avenue and is now the oldest in the street. The foyer and bars were refurbished in 1932–33,