ONCE a Mod, always a Mod, reckons Carol Harrison, the EastEnders actress turned writer of All Or Nothing, the Mod musical.

This "trans-generational musical experience, celebrating the unique sound of the iconic Mod band The Small Faces", will play York Theatre Royal from Tuesday to Thursday, with Carol among Tony McHale's cast for a show featuring such hits as Whatcha Gonna Do About It, Tin Soldier, Lazy Sunday, Here Comes The Nice, Itchycoo Park and All Or Nothing. "Now in my sixties, I'm still dancing the night away to the Sixties music of my youth," she says.

"Growing up in the East End as I did in the Fifties and early Sixties in West Ham was tough. It was cold and dull. The coldest I ever remember was 1963. There were huge snowdrifts, which were great for us kids sliding down them on tin trays. Then the smog came down and we all had to go to school in masks and the beautiful white snow turned black. Then, as the snow melted away, everything changed; suddenly there was music, there was colour, there was Mod.

"Mods were stylish, hip, cool and great dancers. I used to watch my older sister Patricia getting ready to go out, slapping on the eyeliner, the pale lips and sticky-taping her curls to the side of her face to ensure the perfect flick. I was desperate to be older, to be a Mod and go dancing like my sister."

Her boy cousins were Mods too. "They lived in Manor Park, a few streets away from the Marriotts. I remember vividly the day they turned up at our flat with a very small, very good looking, stylish and extremely charismatic boy with an incredible voice. His name was Steve and I instantly had a huge crush on him," says Carol, recalling her first encounter with The Small Faces' Steve Marriott.

"Four years later it was me, with my short feather haircut, mohair suit or paper mini-dress and dolly rocker shoes. I was going out dancing to Soul Stax and of course The Small Faces, at the very same pubs and clubs the band had played: East Ham Youth Club, where The Small Faces played their first gig; the Ruskin Arms, which original member Jimmy Winston’s parents had owned and where the band rehearsed.

"Ironically while I was doing my research [for the musical], I even discovered that the very first place I started to learn about acting from the age of 11, Newham Youth Centre, Monega Road, Manor Park, was Steve Marriott’s old primary school. I also frequented many of the iconic Mod hangouts, The Marquee, The 100 Club and the legendary Bag O' Nails. Luckily there were no ID checks in those days."

Carol next saw Marriott in the flesh one sunny afternoon in 1974 at Charlton Athletic Football Club, when his later band, Humble Pie, were supporting The Who. "Steve was sensational that day and just as funny and charismatic as the first time I'd met him when I was nine years old," she says. "Unfortunately, it was the last time I ever saw him, but all I can say is he must have made a huge impression on me. So much so that all those years later I felt compelled to tell his story and to remind everyone of his enormous talent.

York Press:

All Or Nothing, the Small Faces musical on tour at York Theatre Royal

"I started to think about writing a play that conjured up some of the feeling of that special era, the Sixties. The excitement, the fashion, the radical ideas, the music and of course the style. The Small Faces epitomised much of this for me; they were an iconic Mod band and one of the most influential yet underrated bands of the 60’s; they were also Eastenders like me and brought some of the colourful Cockney language into their music, which we also celebrate in All Or Nothing."

To gain insight into Marriott’s early life, Carol met both Steve's mother Kay – the character she plays – and his daughter Mollie, a musician and singer in her own right, who is now the show's vocal coach. She also spent time talking to the families and friends of the band, among them the singer P P Arnold.

"Very little has been done about the Mod movement in this country except the brilliant film Quadrophenia – I was working at the National Theatre at the time the film was made, but was lucky enough to play a small part in it – but when I tried to present my play to the world of theatre, it was at first received with some scepticism," says Carol.

"The Small Faces weren’t commercial enough. Mods wouldn’t go to the theatre. Some people wanted the musical to be less edgy, more fluffy. This didn’t reflect the Sixties that I remembered: what happened to sex, drugs and rock’n’roll?"

It was suggested too that the only way to pull in an audience was to cast a contestant from a talent show, such as the X Factor, as Steve Marriott. "But I felt this wouldn’t be true to the memory of the band and the apprenticeship they had served, playing every dance hall up and down the country. So it wasn’t an easy task getting the theatrical establishment to share my vision. However, I'm very passionate that the show should be authentic. I was determined it was going to be All Or Nothing for me," says Carol.

"Now I've found a magnificent collection of ‘angels’ who believe in me and the show and have put up the investment to make my idea of ‘the coolest musical ever’ a reality. The All Or Nothing journey to the stage has been long and hard. Like the play itself, there have been moments of great joy and some tears along the way but it has all been worth it."

Rock'n'Roll Productions present All Or Nothing, York Theatre Royal, June 6 to 8, 7.30pm and 2pm Thursday matinee. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Did you know?

Carol Harrison played Louise Raymond in the BBC1 soap opera EastEnders from May 1998 to April 1999.