Short answers, pulled from the story.
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London. Along with New York City's Broadway, it represents the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. There are about 40 theatres in the district.
Agatha Christie's murder mystery play The Mousetrap is the longest-running production in the West End and the world, performed continuously since 1952 at the St Martin's Theatre. The longest-running musical is Les Misérables, which has run in London since October 1985.
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, which opened in 1663, is the oldest theatre in London. The first structure on the site, the Theatre Royal in Bridges Street designed by Thomas Killigrew, opened on the 7th of May 1663 and was destroyed by fire nine years later.
In 2023, West End audiences reached a record 17.1 million. In 2018, attendances topped 15.5 million for the first time since data collection began in 1986, with box office revenues exceeding £765 million.
The Savoy Theatre in The Strand, built by Richard D'Oyly Carte to showcase the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, opened in October 1881 as the first theatre and public building lit by electric lights. The Times recorded that the success of the new mode of illumination was complete.
Most West End theatres are owned by ATG Entertainment, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, Nimax Theatres, LW Theatres, and the Nederlander Organization. Delfont Mackintosh Theatres alone owns eight London theatres.
The Laurence Olivier Awards, presented annually to individuals involved in West End and other leading productions, are widely recognised as the highest honour in professional London theatre. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child won a record-breaking nine Olivier Awards in 2017.