In the autumn of 2004 I decided I wanted to write a musical, preferably something light and fun. I began looking around for suitable subjects, but had trouble finding anything that seemed right. One evening I was watching a television documentary about Venice , and there was a fleeting reference to Casanova’s adventures there in the 18th century. This caught my imagination – hitherto I hadn’t really been aware that Casanova was a real person.

Next day I bought a biography of him; a quick read assured me that this could be a good subject for a musical, and a quick Google search confirmed that no one had done it already. I then read his memoirs, ‘Histoire de ma vie’ (I was surprised to find them readily available in paperback); they are an absorbing, if lengthy (twelve volumes) read. It is these memoirs that have made his name immortal – without them, he would have been consigned to obscurity. (They are also a historically important account of European social and sexual manners of the time, and over 400 editions have been produced since 1846.)

Casanova emerged not entirely as I expected. True, he was a philanderer; but at the same time he was a romantic, and he treated women as equals to men (unusual at that time). He was a charlatan, and yet in his memoirs he is engagingly willing to laugh at himself and his faults.  His talents were not confined to the bedroom - he was a gifted writer, with more than twenty books and plays credited to his name (including a translation of Homer’s Iliad into Italian and a history of Poland ).

He seemed an interesting fellow and I decided to give the project  a try...