Call Me Madam began life with a woman named Perle Mesta – a real life society hostess in the 1940s whom Harry S Truman made Ambassador of Luxembourg to much political snickering. Playwrights Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse came up with the idea and soon got Ethel Merman on board. Her first request was for Irving Berlin to write the score. Hits such as ‘It’s A Lovely Day Today’ and ‘You’re Just In Love’ followed and in 1950 the show opened to reviews such as ‘a smash hit’ and ‘a rocket to the moon’.