LOLA MONTEZ is set in Ballarat in 1856 and deals with the sensational visit of the famous Irish dancer to the scene of the great Australian gold rush during its heyday. The musical revolves around Lola’s exploits and romances, with an array of distinctly Aussie characters woven into the narrative, and includes a nod to her notorious ‘Spider Dance’ which provoked a furore wherever she performed it.The two most notable Australian musicals of the 1950’s were Edmond Samuels’ THE HIGHWAYMEN and LOLA MONTEZ. With a cast that included the young Jon Finlayson, LOLA MONTEZ had a successful Melbourne opening, with an Age reviewer describing it as, ‘gay, humourous, tuneful with pleasant sentiment and a vein of engaging irony’. The Brisbane season that followed was also successful, but when Lola Montez opened in Sydney on 22 October 1958, in a new production subsidized by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, it failed to repeat its earlier success, losing 31,581 pounds. Despite this, the musical continued to play in the public consciousness, helped by the popularity of one of the songs, ‘Saturday Girl’, which became a minor hit. According to David Spicer, Lola Montez has been performed by more than 100 theatres across Australia since its professional premiere in 1958, including a record 14 productions in 1988.