The West End musical Wicked will celebrate its 5,000th performance on Thursday.

The show, at London’s Apollo Victoria theatre, tells the story of the witches Elphaba and Glinda in a prequel to The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.

It is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire and tells the story of how the two sorcery students grow up to be the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda The Good.

It will mark its 12th birthday in September and is the 14th longest-running West End show of all time.

Michael McCabe, the executive producer of the UK production of Wicked, said: “We are thrilled to be celebrating 5,000 performances of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

“It is a testament to all of the incredible work that goes into maintaining this gigantic production that we have reached this remarkable milestone and we are greatly indebted to all of our production staff, cast members and musicians.

“London audiences have passionately embraced Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s extraordinary musical since its UK premiere in 2006 and we thank them all for their continued support.”

The cast currently includes Alice Fearn as Elphaba, Sophie Evans as Glinda and EastEnders actor David Witts as Fiyero.

Wicked is currently booking until May 25 2019.