Volunteers were feverishly working to put the finishing touches to this year's pantomime, "Little Red Riding Hood'', this week in preparation for the first show -- a private affair scheduled for last night.

But costume designer Martin Hatfield took time out from making last minute alterations to the costumes to speak to The Royal Gazette back stage at the City Hall Theatre this week.

Hatfield, originally from Kansas City now married to a Bermudian, fell into costume design by accident having originally studied biology and art.

However his route to Bermuda through the Far East also lined him up for his first job in fashion -- designing Polo shirts in Hong Kong.

Now he is the Brand Merchandiser for Gosling's and his responsibilities include designing the Black Seal line of clothing.

Hatfield was first approached to do costume design for the annual pantomime last year.

"My son was involved (with the production),'' he said.

"The costume designer dropped out, and my son told the director that I design clothing. So they asked me to do it.'' With the help of his "ace-wardrobe ladies'', Janet Pyrah and Hilary Roberts, Hatfield was able to bring his ideas for the costumes into fruition.

Roberts, who has been involved in the annual productions since 1991, and does another show each year, said that the cast and crew have a lot of fun.

"She's the pro. I'm the new kid on the block,'' Hatfield said.

Hatfield costumes begin life on the drawing table where he sketches them out.

Once the drawings are approved by the director, measurements are taken of the cast and the images and sizes are sent off to a factory in India for production.

"I do most of my (Gosling's) manufacturing over there, so I have a good a good factory. (Also) I have a wide selection of fabrics from them,'' he said.

Although they ran into some problems this year, said Hatfield, it was all a learning experience. He hopes that things will be better and easier next year.

"One of the odd things (that happened) was I drew the men's shirts with no buttons, so they made them with no buttons. I'm learning all the time,'' he said.

Hatfield also found it hard to make the transition between imagining his ideas and then seeing the finished product on stage.

"I really just started out playing. I didn't realise until when they got up on stage that the some of the colours look like a hospital uniforms.'' Working with manufacturers in India led to a few other problems, he continued.

Some alterations had to be made to some of the costumes as measurements thought to be taken correctly were translated wrong.

"I took the measurements as a whole when I should have taken them individually,'' he said.

" It was different working with a different culture. They could do a better job if I gave them better instructions.'' Roberts added: "It makes you aware of what you take for granted. You shouldn't assume that somebody else knows what you're talking about.'' She said she is always amazed by how much talent Bermuda produces and how much hard work they are willing to put in.

"People are willing to give up days and days. Obviously the cast do that, but also the people that work back stage,'' she said.

"I mean, I don't think people actually realise what goes on. It's not just people on stage, but lighting, music, stage managers and set design.'' One thing that aided Hatfield this year was a $1,000 increase in the wardrobe budget.

"It's something that I think (the producers) are starting to address a lot more, because what you don't want to see is the same costumes year after year,'' he said.

"Between last year, this year and next year I see the budget getting larger.'' This year's pantomime will include a wide variety of musical numbers the audience will be able to sing along. They will also be entertained by an Elvis and rap number.

Brand new sets for this year's production were made by Richard Klesnicks and his team. Although they depict the traditional Little Red Riding Hood theme, they give the fairy tale a Bermudian twist.

Tickets for Little Red Riding Hood are $20 and can be purchased at the Bermuda Musical and Drama Society's Daylesford Theatre box office between 5:30 and 7 p.m.

Daylesford Theatre will only accept cheque or cash.

Shows run until December 11 with curtains at 7:30 p.m.. All matinee performances have already sold out.