Phylip Harries is a welcomed familiar face in Theatr Clwyd pantos, dazzling audience with quick wit, charm and musical talent. With sat down with Phyl ahead of this year’s show:

Panto is here again! How are rehearsals going so far?

Panto rehearsals are going very well. We're in a great place at the end of week 3. We've had a run of the whole panto and now we've got a whole week to put in some detail with the scenes, music and choreography, and of course the sound effects, very important. It's always a joy to decide how long a fart noise should last.

Mother Goose is known as the “Dame’s Panto” does this mean we are going to see even more for you than ever before?

As Mother Goose is traditionally known as the Dame's panto, there will inevitably be a little more focus on her this year. However it's carefully balanced with the rest of the cast. All the characters have their chance to shine. Our panto is more about how Gwladys Goose is swayed by the thought of beauty and how this affects her better judgement, rather than just be in a lot of scenes for the sake of it. This means that story wise you could say it's about her, but of course there are many plot lines and twists and turns taking us on a journey of good versus evil, and love conquers all.

Panto is very physical with lots of singing and dancing as well as lots of costumes, how do you prepare?

Panto is a very physically demanding discipline and requires just that, a lot of discipline. We have to look after our bodies and our voices with great care. We have half an hour's warm up every day for the voice and joints which always help you to get into shape before a show. Other than that, it's early to bed and no cavorting for a couple of months. It's like living in the athletes' Olympic village. Although we do manage to break curfew every now and again and have the odd night out to relax. All work and no play...and all that!

How does it feel to be back in the theatre this year after the Big Top tent last year?

We are very excited to be back in the main theatre this year. Being in the big top certainly was an experience not to have been missed. But its sheer size brought with it its own complexities. It was quite challenging at times with the high winds, and we had to get used to a style of even bigger acting and sharing that to 3 sides. This year we'll be able to offer some quieter moments. There's a lot of soul searching and pathos in the script this year which require smaller acting styles, but don't worry, all the traditional bad jokes, nonsense and cartoon fun are there in abundance.

We are well used to seeing you blast out a tune on the saxophone, can we expect the same this year?

I'm looking forward to continuing with my role as saxiest Dame in the west. I'm playing my alto and baritone sax this year, but I'm also on bass guitar for 1 song. There are moments with my flute and trombone as well. The more the merrier.

Without giving anything away do you have a favourite moment in this year’s show?

This year's panto is full of highlights for me. I love watching all the highly talented cast do their "turns". They make me laugh and cry. What a team, so talented. I have a few favourite moments but I don't want to give too much away. Let's just say they involve balloons, tutus and cod-pieces.

For people who might not have been to a Theatr Clwyd panto before, why should they book a ticket?

If you haven't been to a Theatr Clwyd Rock 'n' Roll panto before then, why not? Honestly, it's the best panto experience around. The set, costumes, music, choreography, script and direction are second to none. You'll love the fun, tradition, music and slapstick. No excuses...c'mon down.