In the late 19th century, the popular music tradition of operetta swept the world and found a permanent home in central Europe - Vienna and Budapest in particular. Mark Steyn traces the history of this musical form, from Johann Strauss , through Lehar, Kalman and Robert Stolz to the present day where its inheritors include the most popular figure in musical theatre, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Producer Simon Broughton says the film aims "to demonstrate that operetta is not as frothy and trivial as usually perceived, but does comment in its own way on the state of the world which created it". It questions whether popular contemporary musicals, such as Evita, Cats and Phantom of the Opera, are the new operettas of today.