# The 16 Greatest West End Shows of All Time

> One has been running since 1952; another opened last decade and sells out anyway. Sung-through spectacle against two actors and a ghost.

*By YPB Team · Published August 14, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-16-greatest-west-end-shows-of-all-time*

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## Current results (0 votes)

1. **The Mousetrap**
   Agatha Christie's whodunit, running in London since 1952 and the longest-running play in theatre history.
2. **Les Misérables**
   The Boublil and Schönberg musical, running in the West End since 1985.
3. **The Phantom of the Opera**
   Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical, still playing at His Majesty's Theatre.
4. **Cats**
   The 1981 Lloyd Webber musical built from T.S. Eliot's poems.
5. **Hamilton**
   Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop history, which opened in London in 2017.
6. **Wicked**
   The Oz prequel musical, at the Apollo Victoria since 2006.
7. **The Woman in Black**
   The two-hander ghost play that ran for more than three decades at the Fortune.
8. **The Lion King**
   Julie Taymor's staging, at the Lyceum since 1999.
9. **Matilda the Musical**
   The RSC's Roald Dahl adaptation with songs by Tim Minchin.
10. **Blood Brothers**
   Willy Russell's Liverpool tragedy, which ran in the West End for 24 years.
11. **Harry Potter and the Cursed Child**
   The two-part play at the Palace Theatre since 2016.
12. **An Inspector Calls**
   Stephen Daldry's revival of the Priestley thriller, revived repeatedly since 1992.
13. **Mamma Mia!**
   The ABBA jukebox musical, in London since 1999.
14. **Six**
   The pop musical giving Henry VIII's wives the microphone.
15. **The 39 Steps**
   The four-actor comic version of the Hitchcock thriller.
16. **Witness for the Prosecution**
   Christie's courtroom drama, staged inside London County Hall since 2017.

Tags: uk, musicals, theatre, london