 The musical 's storyline explores the divisions between art and commerce and between European and American culture , dichotomies that have also shaped much of Sparks ' own career . Described as a " dark fairy tale " by Stephen Dalton in The Times – " The Wizard of Oz meets The Truman Show , with a light sprinkling of Life On Mars " – it is based on imaginary events in the career of Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman . 
