Since December 15 Hannah Grover has been having a ball as Cinderella in the Alhambra’s annual Billy Pearce pantomime.

When she takes off her princess’s costume for the last time next month she estimates that she will have appeared in 78 shows – ten a week.

But that’s not the most she has done in her ten years on the stage since leaving Coventry University where she studied Performing Arts.

She said: “When I was in Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat there were 12 shows a week for 11 months.

“I played the Narrator and I got two shows off a week. It was such a huge thing and just too much.”

You wouldn’t think that anything was too much to listen to Hannah speak.

The bubbliness sounded authentic, unaffected. She was speaking to me while standing outside the Alhambra in a sub-zero temperature, having finished a midweek matinee and preparing to go on stage again later that night.

“I love it, it’s my hobby and I get paid for it,” she added. I believed her.

The usual narrative with actors is that they take any job they are offered because they fear being out of work. Interestingly, Hannah doesn’t feel like that.

“I very rarely feel fearful. Something always turns up once you get yourself a name. The more you do you get yourself a reputation and people know about you.”

Ever since J B Priestley revisited his home town in 1933 and remarked with amazement in his book English Journey how many people seemed to be in amateur dramatics, thousands of Bradfordians of all ages have fallen in love with the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd.

But what does it take to cross-over from being a hopeful amateur to a seasoned professional?

“It’s totally do-able but it’s about perseverance, not giving up when you are starting out,” Hannah said.

“You’ve got to have a passion for it, but you’ve also got to have a thick skin.

“Every time you get knocked back it’s not personal, it’s because you didn’t quite fit what the director wanted.

“You’ve got to pick yourself up and go for it.

“For every person up there with a job they’ve had countless knock-backs and they just keep plugging away.”

The theatre people she admires are those who have made sure their careers have evolved with age – Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Barbra Streisand.

“At a certain age people drop out because it’s really hard or to have babies.

“I thrive on it because it’s exciting. Perhaps I won’t feel that way forever,” she added.

With that she went back to prepare for another night as a princess.

Cinderella runs at the Alhambra until Sunday, February 3. For tickets ring (01274) 432000.