 Ellis was also in the same year as fellow musical theatre actress Louise Dearman.By the time she graduated in 1998, Ellis had appeared in a number of professional pantomimes for E&B productions including "Dick Whittington" (1995) and "Aladdin" (1996) across theatres in the UK as well as performing the title role in "Cinderella" (1997) at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea.Following her graduation, Ellis became first understudy to Marti Webb in a UK concert tour of "The Magic of the Musicals" in 1998, required on several occasions in Webb's absence, yet took a hiatus in 1999 to board cruise ship MS "Voyager of the Seas", employed as lead vocalist in the ship's entertainment staff.