This Christmas, hordes of children will be queuing to see the little people coming out of the woodwork at the Midlands Art Centre's annual festive show - one of the biggest draws in Birmingham.

But the production of the perennial kids' favourite The Borrowers will also be the last Christmas show to grace the stage of the 45-year-old hugely popular arts centre in Cannon Hill Park before it shuts its doors for an 18-month, £13.5 million refurbishment next Easter.

And as productions programmer Paul Herbert described, the show will also mark the end of an era for the festive children's shows that made the Mac famous.

"In lots of ways it's the centrepiece performance for the mac, it's the biggest of the shows that we do and the longest running," said Mr Herbert, who has worked at the Mac since 1973.

"It's one of the first Christmas productions to start in the city, if not the first, and it just stays."

He added that the children's performances at Christmas had been a central part of the Mac's programme ever since it opened in 1962 as the Midlands Arts Centre for Young People.

"In the old days we were well known as a puppet theatre, and there were times when there were two theatres running at the same time here, but then at some point they brought it together and we've always had a lot of different skills on show in the Christmas pieces.

"We always get a fantastic response from the children, we have schools coming to visit and we often get cards and pictures from the children at the schools later on."

He added that he believed the Christmas show had become a part of the Birmingham season, and a fixture for families, particularly in the south side of the city.

Children are often brought to Christmas shows by parents and grandparents who themselves saw shows at the Mac or at the big top in Cannon Hill Park that preceded it, he said.

"We're certain that people who came here in the 60s to see the puppet show are bringing their own kids now. I've often sat in the audience with people who say 'I remember doing this before.'"

The Mac has launched the careers of a galaxy of film and stage directors, writers and actors.

Stars who started out in the humble surroundings of the mac include playwright Mark Ravenhill, filmmaker Mike Leigh and former Theatre Royal Stratford East artistic director Philip Hedley, as well as esteemed actors like Adrian Lester and the late Bob Peck.

And even the children's productions have been the starting point for some top names in the world of film.

Mr Herbert remembers seeing future Oscar nominee and Harry Potter actress Imelda Staunton take her first role out of drama school in a mac production of Jack and the Beanstalk.

"She was actually playing a number of roles," he said. "She was Jill in the production, but she was also playing a fairy."

He also brought up last year's performance of Pinocchio as one of the best he had ever seen at the Mac - which was why the entire production team will be coming back this year to put on The Borrowers.

The mac will be closing in spring 2008 for a complete overhaul of the centre, and will not re-open until autumn 2009.

Jointly funded by Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council and a fund-raising campaign, the development will dramatically improve physical access making the centre accessible for huge numbers of new people.

The decision to refurbish earlier this year brought years of worry to an end following a 1996 council feasibility study which warned that the complex required substantial improvement and a larger theatre. The centre currently employs about 170 people. A spokeswoman for the Mac said negotiations on pay and employment were ongoing, so it would not be fair for them to comment.