But creator and co-writer Grant Black’s joy at seeing the show come to life is tempered by the fact that its biggest fan is absent from its five-week run... his late mother Shirley.

“This show is dedicated to my mother, who we lost five and a half years ago,” Grant said.

“I still feel she’s here, holding my hand and guiding us as she always has done. “She saw early drafts of the script. She was the biggest supporter of this show.”

The 60-year-old added: “She was our first investor when I started writing this show (with co-writer Murray Lachlan Young).

“We needed some sort of seed money because we wanted to go here and there for research. Mum was just ‘right, I’m paying for it. I’m behind you all the way. I just love it’.”

Shirley, who was married to Don Black (yes, THAT Don Black) for 60 years, was at an early reading of the script.

“Most Jewish boys love their mum,” Grant added.

“Anyone who says time is a great healer never met my mum.

“She was extraordinary.”

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