From 1958 to 1960 Monty Norman had five successful stage musicals in a row - three of which were subsequently made into films. Irma La Douce ran five and a half years in the West End and eighteen months on Broadway - receiving a Tony Award nomination for 'Best Musical'; Expresso Bongo (Time Out called it 'the first Rock 'n Roll musical') ran a year in the West End; Make Me An Offer won the Evening Standard Award for 'Best Musical' and ran a year in the West End; The Art of Living (based on Art Buchwald's humorous columns in the International Herald Tribune) ran a year in the West End.

These were the early days of Monty's career as a composer/ lyricist after having given up a successful singing career in which he had sung with the biggest of the big bands, starred on TV, radio and records and co-starred with practically every top comedian of the day.