This caricature shows Carl Brisson (1895-1958) at the Oxford New Theatre on 26 October 1938 as Nutane in Aloma and Nutane, in which he starred with the Australian opera singer Lucille Benstead (1891-1983), the British stage and film actress Gabrielle Brine (1912-2005), and the British romantic lead and singer Donald Mather. It was drawn by Gilbert Sommerlad (1904-1976), a rehearsal pianist and orchestral violinist at the Brighton Theatre Royal from 1932 until 1936, and at the Oxford New Theatre from 1936 for over forty years. Sommerlad sketched the stars on stage when he wasn't needed in the orchestra pit, compiling the sketches in a series of albums.

Born in Copenhagen, Carl Brisson began his career as a boxer, fighting to championship level under his real name of Carl Pedersen. In 1916 he made his first stage appearance as a dancer in Denmark, and a cabaret singer in Sweden. After touring South Africa as a cabaret singer, he came to London in 1921 and established himself as a great star of musical comedy at Daly's Theatre as Prince Danilo in The Merry Widow (1923). He worked frequently in London and New York; made a great hit at the Savoy Theatre in Wonder Bar (1930), and in 1949 had a one-man show at the London Palladium. He was knighted in Denmark the same year.