Wicked musical celebrates £100m in box office takings

West End hit musical Wicked is celebrating takings of £100m since it opened in September 2006.

The show has been seen by almost three million people over 1,500 performances, according to its producers.

The musical is based on Gregory Maguire's novel, Wicked - The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which explains why the famous character became a villain.

UK producer Michael McCabe said he was "delighted" at the £100m milestone.

"We are particularly proud to have achieved this incredible success during a period of such global financial uncertainty," he said.

The musical is currently running at London's Apollo Victoria theatre.

Productions are also playing in the US, Australia, Japan and North America.

Wicked recently won the audience award for most popular show at the Laurence Olivier Awards.

The musical has been seen by more than 21 million people worldwide.

Lee Mead - the winner of the BBC series Any Dream Will Do recently took over the role of Fiyero in the UK production of the show.

He starred in the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and has just finished playing the title role in the national tour of Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Savile's Crime.