The hit holds the United States record for the longest-running non-musical play in American theatre history. The record was set by the Boston company back in November 1987, with 3,225 consecutive performances. In addition to Boston, Shear Madness has been staged in cities around the world, including London, Montreal, Lisbon, Mexico City, Oslo, Madrid, Budapest, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires and Johannesburg among others. All told it has had 24 domestic and 22 foreign productions with new dates set for 2005 in Chicago (a return visit), West Palm Beach, Atlanta, Coral Gables, FL, and Vancouver, B.C.
Shear Madness was written by German playwright, Paul Portner in 1963 and adapted by Marilyn Abrams and Bruce Jordan who acquired world stage, film and television rights.