The production began in the U.K. in 1998 and then embarked on a U.S. national tour, which included a stop at New York's New Victory Theater. That run earned the production Drama Desk Award nominations for Set Design for a Musical Julian Crouch and Graeme Gilmour, Costume Design Kevin Pollard and Unique Theatrical Experience.
Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote about the show: "As spoof theater goes, Shockheaded Peter is in its own, highly sophisticated league. A send-up of the cautionary 19th-century tales used to frighten children into behaving, the sort in which thumb-suckers soon find the offending appendages severed, this visual treat of a show is masterly in enjoying its poisoned cake and debunking it, too."