When Lilian Baylis was badly hurt after a car accident, someone at the scene called out, 'It's Miss Baylis. Miss Bayliss of the old Vic'. In spite of her injuries, Baylis drew herself up and imperiously corrected them, 'AND Sadler's Wells'. But Baylis was much more than the manager of the of the Old Vic, AND Sadler's Wells - she was also a founding mother of the British National Opera. She gave career changing breaks to actors such as John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, created new roles for Alicia Markova and furthered the careers of stars in the making such as Alec Guinness, Margot Fonteyn and Joan Cross. Even Joan Littlewood desperately wanted to work for Boyliss.

This biography sets out to discover how Baylis was about to manage two theatres and three companies, bringing what was considered the very best of high culture to working people, and still haul in a profit. Elizabeth Schafer looks beyond the famous comic anecdotes and discovers the private woman behind the public persona. Based on new and original research , the book draws extensively on Baylis's autobiographical writing, detailing her early career as a musician and dancer and her lover the company of pioneering independent and high-powered women. It reveals how Baylis achieved so much, what it cost her, and gives a glimpse of the autobiographical Baylis herself never found time to write.