Producer Theo has assembled a crack transatlantic team to launch the new musical Whatever Happened to Tomorrow? Liz, a successful British novelist, has written the book, her compatriot Mike the lyrics, legendary Broadway composer Bebe Kaiser has created the score and the staging rests in the capable hands of hit US director Stacey. What could possibly go wrong? Quite a bit, it turns out, as egos clash, tempers fray and artistic ideals vie with financial reality What Rosenthal's delightful play really proves is that musicals operate in a special way; in conjuring up a world of fantasy, they leave their creators trapped in their own private bubble of preposterous self-delusion - Michael Billington, Guardian SMASH! was first performed at Cambridge Arts Centre in 1981 starring Maureen Lipman and Nigel Hawthorne. It was revived at the Menier Chocolate Factory in March 2011 with Natalie Walter and Tom Conti.

Using letters and photographs preserved by his mother, Jack Rosenthal reconstructs the wartime relationship of his parents in this poignant and unconventional military history. Tracing their courtship from the day of its beginning in March 1944, to its culmination in marriage in July 1945, the narrative ranges from a dramatic escape after the fall of Hong Kong to the nightmares of the Arctic convoys and is supported by lively insights into the histories and social circumstances of the four families involved. A fascinating insight into the human element of war not usually covered by conventional military histories, this is a love story that has stood the test of time.