Behind the scenes with Wolverhampton Grand panto costume staff

He plays Dame Trott in Jack and the Beanstalk and wears 14 flamboyant costumes which have to be washed and ironed after every show.

Mr Ellacott said: "With 14 costume changes in the space of two hours and 20 minutes, I can't deny it can sometimes be hard work being a panto dame – the quick changes especially can be tricky, all those layers, sequins, hooks and petticoats.

"In those moments, I rely heavily on the help of my wonderful dressers who are always on hand to assist a dame in distress. But it's great fun too and as a 'glamorous older woman', you can't beat the attention."

Wardrobe supervisor Bek Palmer works behind the scenes to make sure there are no hiccups and each costume change goes off without a hitch.

She said: "Nigel has the most elaborate costumes but Sherrie Hewson's are pretty impressive too. She has outfits with feather collars and lots of sparkles. She also has to dress up in disguise as a milk maid because she plays the baddie.

"We must have about 50 costumes in total which we have to wash at the end of the night then in the morning we dry and iron them. We spend about two hours each day doing the laundry.

"We're usually the first in and the last out and if a costume is broken and needs repairing we have to come in extra early to fix it." The costumes are supplied by Qdos Entertainment which will stage 24 pantomimes throughout the season. The company begins preparing and sourcing costumes in January for the end-of-year shows and garments are said to cost thousands. Miss Palmer said: "We have a set of Teletubbies costumes which cost a few thousand so you can imagine how much others might cost.

"When Qdos send us the costumes we have a week of rehearsals where we have to fit each one to the different actors. When they get on stage they might find something too tight, trousers might rip or a snap might break so we have to get everything right for the shows."

The show, which also stars Coronation Street's Ken Morley and Keith Harris and Orville, runs until January 20.