Grease took $340m worldwide at the box office

The hit show broke records as Broadway's longest-running musical before being made into a 1978 film with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, both a 1975 comedy-horror film and stage musical created by Richard O'Brien, was second in the poll of 2,431 adults.

The research was commissioned by the Wales Millennium Centre.

People were asked to name their favourite show from stage or screen.

Rock 'n' roll love story Grease is consistently popular, having also topped a Channel 4 poll two years ago for the nation's favourite musical.

TOP 10 MUSICALS IN POLL 1. Grease 2. Rocky Horror Picture Show 3. The Phantom of the Opera 4. Les Miserables 5. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 6. West Side Story 7. The Lion King 8. Cats 9. Chicago 10. The Sound of Music

When it was released the UK was in the grip of punk rock and Grease, set in 1950s America, was seen as a harmless antidote to the Sex Pistols.

The film went on to become a box office smash taking $340m worldwide.

Several songs from Grease, including You're The One That I Want, Hopelessly Devoted to You, Summer Nights and Greased Lightnin', went on to become chart hits.

Third on the list for the Millennium Centre's research was The Phantom of the Opera, based on a French novel by Gaston Leroux.

It has been adapted into several film and stage productions, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical and a film based on the classic stage musical last year.

Next on the list with Les Miserables, based on the 1862 novel by French writer Victor Hugo and composed by Claude-Michel Schonberg.

Lord Lloyd-Webber also features in fifth place with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which he co-wrote with Tim Rice.