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The Miracle grew out of C.B. Cochran's request for a show to fill the vast spaces of the Olympia exhibition hall in London. Based on a medieval German mystery play, it was a spectacular epic production which required the performance space to be transformed into the interior of a Gothic cathedral, with towering arches and stained glass windows, and a cast of hundreds. One critic described it as 'theatre without stage or curtain, drama without words, opera without lyrics'. Max Reinhardt directed both the original 1911 Olympia production and the 1932 revival at the Lyceum, using the same Karl Vollmoeller scenario and Engelbert Humperdinck's music.

Cochran revived The Miracle to showcase Lady Diana Cooper as the Madonna. She first played the role in New York in 1924 and so impressed Cochran that he determined she should play it again in London, although it was eight years before his plans came to fruition.