The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company performed Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia, Limited on the grand opening night of 10 December 1894.

These included Sir Henry Irving the renowned Lyceum actor and a young Charlie Chaplin who was recorded as being company call boy in 1902.

In 1909 the Grand was chosen for a spectacle of quite a different kind, when the president of the Board of Trade, Winston Churchill addressed the Budget League from the theatre's stage.

Nine years later in 1918, Prime Minister, David Lloyd George played to a full house when he opened the Government's general election campaign.

It had no resident corps of actors but rather played host to a huge number of visiting professional companies, and also to various local amateur groups.

This shift in emphasis meant that the superb stage and remarkable backstage facilities became available to a whole new generation of aspiring professionals, many of whom went on to become household names.

During the thirties, forties and fifties, many future stars including Kenneth More, Peggy Mount, June Whitfield and Leonard Rossiter developed their talents in front of a discerning Black Country audience.

There were of course some memorable moments, such as the Grand's diamond jubilee production in 1944 of South Pacific, featuring a young Sean Connery, but by then large rep companies were dying out.

The Grand avoided closure by changing its format once again and 1959 saw the return of touring companies including Michael Caine and Terence Stamp in a production of The Long and the Short and the Tall, but even these failed to counteract the steady decline in audiences.

The company began refurbishing the theatre in 1973, laying down a new stage, improving lighting in the building and strengthening the back wall in Berry Street.

Throughout the seventies the Grand enjoyed some success with pantomime and numerous touring productions of musicals, ballet, opera and plays, but, as audiences again began to decline, the theatre was forced to close in 1980.

Fortunately, there were some Wulfrunians who recognised the need for live theatre, and immediately after the curtain fell in 1980 a public meeting was held to start a campaign to re-open the Grand.

Consequently, the ceilings, boxes and proscenium arch which were painted cream and gold from the original colour scheme, while the use of claret that had predominated up until then, was restricted.

The Dress Circle was given a much more spacious area for patrons to wait before entering the auditorium; while in the foyer new glass doors helped open the theatre to the public outside.

In 2014 it was confirmed that the Grand Theatre would undergo a major refurbishment as part of the Black Country Growth Deal, along with the Wolves Civic.

[5] In 2019, the Grand successfully acquired planning permission to transform the former Post Office which was located next door to the theatre into the Green Room a brand-new arts venue.

[7] After the theatre received a £2 million expansion grant from the government in 2023, they announcement that they would purchase the former music venue the Slade Rooms.

After the conversion, the venue will feature a 250 seat studio theatre as well as rehearsal rooms, smaller performance spaces and exhibition facilities.

Principal cast was as follows - Ash Matthews (Shane), Chris Connel (Andy), Miriam Grace Edwards (Sandra), Clara Darcy (Gloria), Greg Yates (Jim), Tim Jones (Harry), Donna Heaslip (Rita) and Susie Wilcox (Vera).

As has become tradition, the show was also written in-house by panto stars Tam Ryan and the theatre's resident dame Ian Adams.

Jamie Christian-Johal aka Giant from the BBC's Gladiators, will star in the upcoming pantomime, making his panto debut.