Rosalie Carey wrote this book - which is partly a 'prequel' to her A Theatre in the House, the story of how she and Patric Carey set up Dunedin's Globe Theatre - because she saw that there are many biographies of theatrical stars, but little has been recorded about life lower on the ladder. Rosalie paints a lively picture of her early career on the stage in New Zealand, then in post-war England where she acted and danced her way from the Scilly Isles to the Midlands, with shipboard and other romances, theatre superstitions, dodgy digs, shady agents and English 'cuisine'. Hard work and determination took Rosalie about as far up the ladder as was possible without succumbing to the casting couch. Back home, she put her experience to good use with the Community Arts Service which took theatre to the backblocks, then at the Globe. Many of the famous names of New Zealand theatre step on stage in her story, as do radio drama, broadcasts to schools, repertory, children's theatre and drama teaching. Now in her mid-80s, Rosalie is not slowing down.
She writes poetry and plays, promotes the arts and continues to teach and act, with appearances in films, advertisements and programmes from Crime Watch to Shortland Street.