Palace Theatre, Manchester notable shows to have played successful seasons at the Palace Theatre include, amongst others, the regional premiere of "Les Misérables" which ran for 13 months from 1992–93, regional premiere of "Miss Saigon" in 2001, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in 2006 and "Mamma Mia!" over the 2006/07 Christmas season. Broadway musical "The Wedding Singer" had its UK premiere at the theatre in 2008 and in December 2008 to March 2009 the theatre hosted a season of the UK tour of "Mary Poppins", one of only six theatres in the country to accommodate the tour, both events further cementing the theatre's reputation
Musical theatre hall, pantomime and burletta dominated the London musical stage into the 1870s. In America, mid-18th century musical theatre entertainments included crude variety revue, which eventually developed into vaudeville, minstrel shows, which soon crossed the Atlantic to Britain, and Victorian burlesque, first popularized in the US by British troupes. A hugely successful musical that premiered in New York in 1866, "The Black Crook", was an original musical theatre piece that conformed to many of the modern definitions of a musical, including dance and original music that helped to tell the story. The spectacular production, famous for its skimpy costumes, ran for