"The Gondoliers" was immediately a hit in London, playing for 554 performances, the fourth longest of the series (after "The Mikado", "H.M.S. Pinafore" and "Patience"). It earned more money than any other Savoy opera in its original run. 20,000 copies of the published score were sold on publication, and over 70,000 copies of various arrangements were sold within a few days. D'Oyly Carte's "E" Company mounted the first provincial production on 19 February 1890 in Preston. From then on, it was never absent from the touring repertory until it was omitted from the final two seasons (September 1980–February 1982) before the closing of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Percy Anderson refreshed his original costume designs in 1917, 1919 and 1928.