Longest theatrical run of a musical in the West End

Les Misérables has run in London's West End for 29 years 47 days as of 19 January 2015, making it the capital's second-longest-running show of any kind and the longest-running musical. The sung-through show, inspired by the French Revolution novel by Victor Hugo and adapted by composer Claude-Michel Schönberg and lyricists Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel (all France), opened in London with an English-language libretto by Herbert Kretzmer. Now in its 30th year, Les Mis, known affectionately to the theatre community as The Glums, has been seen by more than 70 million people in 43 countries and in 22 languages. The Cameron Mackintosh/Royal Shakespeare Company production of Les Misérables first opened in the West End at The Palace on 4 December 1985 (transferred from The Barbican, where it opened on 8 October 1985). It closed at the Palace Theatre on 27 March 2004 to re-open at the Queen's Theatre on 3 April 2004, where it runs to the present day (as of 19 January 2015).