An Agatha Christie play that's been running in London's West End for 70 years is finally coming to Broadway

• Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap opened in London on November 25, 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre.
• It's world's longest-running play, but has never been staged on Broadway.

The world's longest-running play will finally open on Broadway next year.

The Mousetrap, a murder mystery by Agatha Christie, has been running in London's West End since November 25, 1952 with a cast including Richard Attenborough and was interrupted only by the pandemic.

Although the play has been staged in the United States, it's never made it to New York City.

The Mousetrap's Broadway transfer was announced on Friday to mark the play's 70th anniversary.

When it first opened in London, Christie and the original producer agreed that the show would not transfer to Broadway. "Those reasons are now long lost," Mathew Prichard, the writer's grandson, told The Times.

The Mousetrap has been performed almost 29,000 times — nearly twice the number notched up by its nearest rival in London, the musical Les Misérables.

The Broadway production will be a joint effort by UK producer Adam Spiegel and his US counterpart Kevin McCollum, who previously produced Lin Manuel Miranda's musical In The Heights.

A mantelpiece clock — the only surviving piece of the original set from 1952 — will be on loan for the Broadway show.

Spiegel said: "After the longest out-of-town try-out in history, The Mousetrap is finally ready to transfer to Broadway."

He said the London production "is more popular than ever, and has shown a real resilience since Covid, with huge numbers of Americans coming to see it, and so it felt like it was time to be front-footed and take it to Broadway."

The Mousetrap's record-breaking success was a surprise to Agatha Christie herself.

In her autobiography, Christie recounts a conversation she had with Peter Saunders, the play's original producer, on its opening night in the West End.

Saunders estimated the play would run for 14 months, and Christie replied: "It won't run that long. Eight months perhaps. Yes, I think eight months."

About a third of The Mousetrap's audiences in London are believed to be foreign tourists, according to McCollum.

Casting and the date of opening night are yet to been confirmed.

McCollum said: "I'm excited for the huge Christie fanbase in North America, and for the acting company in New York who will join the esteemed ranks of The Mousetrap alumni."