Eirlais Tomkins attended Wolverhampton Girls’ High School and later became Head of Music at the same school. She began attending the Grand at an early age and was a founder member of the Junior Theatre Club in the 1950s, she recalls seeing Norman Wisdom in pantomime:
"Norman Wisdom playing Buttons was a most moving performance because although he was a comic character, it was such a ‘pathetic’ performance, in the best sense of the word, and I shall never forget his expression to this day as he talked to Cinderella and really was in love with Cinderella. I can still see him on the stage at the side of Cinderella and I can remember his tunic with the double row of buttons – it was most memorable."