The undisputed heavyweight of pantomime Dames, Clive Rowe is so good at putting on women’s clothing and making people laugh he became the first panto Dame to receive an Olivier Award nomination for his turn in Mother Goose at the Hackney Empire last year.

It is in this cross-dressing colourful guise that Clive has became synonymous with the Empire’s annual festive romp. So synonymous infact, even he seems to have lost count of the notches on his panto belt – although he thinks this year’s production of Aladdin brings it up to seven.

“I call it a busman’s holiday, it’s organised chaos,” the Lancashire lad laughs. “All year I am told what to say and where to stand, but with panto there is somebody saying, ‘here’s a blank page you know what to do you, here’s a framework to do it in, now just run riot’.”

Speaking to Clive it still feels like he is waiting to wake up from some fabulous dream – a dream which began when he was accepted into the Guildhall School of Acting & Drama School in the ‘80s.

“I got to 19 and applied to drama school because I thought it would give me three years to work out what I wanted to do. I didn’t think I was going to be an actor until I was 22, I still thought I was going to be an electrician or work in a factory. That’s how stupid I am!”

Despite landing an enviable first job while still at Guildhall, starring alongside Peter Clark in Stephen Pimlott’s Carmen Jones at the Sheffield Crucible, it wasn’t until Clive discovered a calling in musical theatre and the rave reviews came in for his performance in Carousel (1994) that the 45-year-old adopted Londoner really started to believe in himself.

“I suddenly thought, oh maybe I can sing a bit, maybe this is something I can do for the rest of my life. Then I got the Olivier nomination for Carousel and I thought, maybe I’m not too bad at this.”

Although Clive lost out that time, it wasn’t long before he won his first Olivier for Guys and Dolls, which he simply describes as “amazing”.

Accolades aside, I’m not surprised when the down-to-earth actor says without hesitation that awards are not what drives him, insisting: “If I had to make a choice between winning an Oliver and playing the pantomime Dame, I would always play the pantomime Dame. I just love bringing joy to people’s lives.”

Penned by leading writer and director of pantomimes Susie McKenna, and featuring the usual mayhem, spectacle, and brilliant soundtrack Empire audiences have come to expect, there is no doubt this year’s Aladdin will be as joyful as ever.

As for his co-star, Jane Casey, Clive enthuses: “You won’t believe it but it’s her first pantomime and it’s her first time as a principal boy and she is absolutely stunning – one to watch.”

There is, however, one dark cloud hovering over this year’s show and that is the recent annoucement that the Empire is to go dark next year.

As somebody who refers to the Empire team as a “family”, it’s clearly not the greatest news Clive has ever heard, but, just as in his approach to his career, he has a measured, level-headed outlook on the situation.

“Like anything, if the building is in trouble and it needs help and the only way it can get help is to close and to start from the roots up, then it needs to close.”

The shining light in this saga is there are plans for the Empire to open in style with next year’s pantomime and you can bet it will be Clive behind that comedy wig and flamboyant costume.

Speaking on the importance of pantomime, Clive sums up: “It gets families into the building and if you bring a family in, it usually means that you are bringing in children. It gets them hooked young and theare will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

Aladdin runs at the Hackney Empire until Saturday, January 9. Tickets: 020 8985 2424, www.hackneyempire.co.uk (£9-£22.50).