He was attracted to the subject because it was Australian but had international appeal; he did not want to make something along the lines of On Our Selection.

[2][3] Alan Burke says his dream Lola was Vivien Leigh but that he wanted Moyra Fraser to star.

[1] Hugh Hunt imported 25 year old Mary Preston from the United Kingdom to play the lead.

[3] Cole later appeared in the TV musical Pardon Miss Westcott which was commissioned from the writers of Lola Montez.

A retrospective celebration of the work was mounted in February 2018 at the Smorgon Family Plaza, Arts Centre Melbourne.