Sonia Friedman, who produced Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, has come top of the new Stage 100 list of the most influential people in showbusiness.

Ms Friedman is only the second woman to head of the rankings as a solo entry. Her other credits as a producer include The Book of Mormon, La Cage Aux Folles and Legally Blonde The Musical.

Alistair Smith, Stage magazine’s print editor, paid tribute to Ms Friedman, saying that 2016 had been “a phenomenal year” for her and that although she had enjoyed past success, she had now gone “stratospheric”.

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was always likely to be a licence to print money”, he said.

“What has made it really special was that Friedman and her fellow creatives resisted the temptation to treat the production as a cash cow and created something truly magical, original and - above all - theatrical."

Ms Friedman said: "I feel extremely lucky to do a job I love so much and to have had such a stimulating and creatively diverse year."