All Or Nothing: Carol Harrison's musical on the Small Faces set to rock the West End
PR Carol Harrison is the writer, producer and one of the stars of All Or Nothing
She is the writer, producer and one of the stars of All Or Nothing, the musical about the hugely influential Mod band the Small Faces which opens in London’s West End after enjoying tremendous success on tour. We meet in a community hall where the cast are rehearsing for the new run, and it’s obvious that Carol is the dynamo behind the production; flying around, making sure everyone knows what they’re doing, keeping up morale and running through technical elements of the show. Even as we sit down to chat, Carol – who has “a birthday the same number The Beatles wrote about” on the press night of All Or Nothing – is still full of enthusiasm, and the passion she has for the show shines out of her. The Small Faces were famously managed by the super-aggressive Don Arden. Does Carol compare herself to him by being tough with the cast members? “No!” she laughs. “I’m much more of an Andrew Loog Oldham,” she says, referring to The Rolling Stones’ rather more charming mentor.
Even then, I knew the Mod scene Carol Harrison
Carol remembers the Sixties scene in London well; her older cousins actually introduced her to Small Faces front man Steve Marriott, a fellow East Ender, when she was only nine. “Even then, I knew the Mod scene. It was coming out of the dark days of the 1950s and early 1960s which were so dark, and the Mods turned everything into colour. “When I was older, I’d go to the clubs and see fantastic bands in town, and I went to the Isle of Wight Festival to see The Who, Free and Jimi Hendrix. The only band I didn’t see were the Small Faces, but I did catch up with Steve later when he was playing with Humble Pie.” Writing about the band seems a natural fi t for Carol who, as well as being a successful actress with roles in EastEnders (as Tiffany Mitchell’s mother Louise), Brush Strokes (Gloria), Get Back (with Ray Winstone as her husband and Kate Winslet as her daughter) and a host of other TV dramas, has pursued a parallel career as a screenwriter, despite suffering from dyslexia.
“I didn’t originally set out to write the Small Faces story, but I knew Steve Marriott well, and when I spoke to his daughter Mollie (who is the show’s vocal coach), his mum (whom Carol plays in it) and sister, I knew that this was a story that had to be told. “It’s a classic rock ’n’ roll tale of a band that had so much talent but were ripped off and exploited, and it was a tale of self-destruction as well. “There were such great characters in the band, all of which made for a great story.” All Or Nothing has been touring the nation since its launch in 2016, and is all the more powerful because the four actors playing the Small Faces are also great musicians, playing the band’s songs live every night and bringing a real sense of excitement to the stage. This is part of the reason that the show has become something of a “people’s musical”, attracting a loyal audience who might not have thought of going to the theatre previously.
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“Getting the show on, I had a fight on my hands,” explains Carol. “I put a lot on the line to get it produced, as people were saying that the audience for it weren’t people who would ever go to the theatre, but I knew that if you offered them something they could relate to and was authentic, they would. "Now, theatres have been amazed at the people who have come – they’ve never taken so much at the bar for a start! They didn’t realise they’d have 40 scooters parked outside, with men dressed up in suits. The show and the audience feels like one big family, and that’s what I believe in: working class people expressing themselves. Theatre doesn’t have to be about highbrow culture.” There has been a fly in the ointment of the show’s success, however. The manager of Steve Marriott’s estate has launched a legal claim, arguing the estate is owed money for the Small Faces’ image rights.
PR Carol Harrison is the dynamo behind the production