WICKED Stars Khadime and Pilkington Named Women Of The Future

The annual Women of the Future Awards have named Dianne Pilkington and Alexia Khadime, co-stars of the hit West End musical Wicked, as the winners of this year's prestigious award in the 'Art and Culture' category.

The Women of the Future Awards, in association with Shell, celebrate and honour outstanding young women transforming Britain for the better. Dianne Pilkington accepted the award on behalf of herself and her co-star at a celebratory black-tie event last night hosted by BBC London's Riz Lateef at the Marriott Grosvenor Square.

Dianne Pilkington and Alexia Khadime said in a joint statement, "We are both incredibly honoured to have been chosen as Women of the Future and, as actors, proud and privileged to play the two inspirational women at the heart of Wicked."

WICKED's Executive Producer Michael McCabe said: "Wicked is ultimately a story of female friendship and empowerment and the lead characters of Elphaba and Glinda have become incredible role models for many thousands of people. Dianne and Alexia have embodied these roles with grace and empathy and we are all tremendously proud that these two outstanding and gifted actors have been honoured as Women of the Future."

WICKED, "the hugely popular musical" (The Times, 31 October 2009) that tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz, has now played over 1300 performances and been seen by more than two million theatregoers at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre.