 It is based on the true story of Thomas John Barnardo, a philanthropist who founded homes for destitute children.During his lifetime, nearly 60,000 children were rescued and provided with training that prepared them to be self-sufficient.Although the musical, the first for both Rice and Lloyd Webber, was composed in 1965, it failed to find backing and was not performed until it was staged at Lloyd Webber's Sydmonton Festival on 9 July 2005.