Frederic Norton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Frederick Norton" redirects here. For the Upstairs, Downstairs character, see List of Upstairs, Downstairs characters#Frederick Norton.

Frederic Norton born Gordon Frederic Norton on 11 October 1869 in Broughton-in-Salford, England. Died on 15 December 1946 in Holford, England. British composer, most associated with the record breaking Chu Chin Chow, which opened in 1916.

A trained singer, Norton studied with Francesco Paolo Tosti and appeared on stage in variety theatre. Some of these acts included the delivery of monologues.

These monologues led Norton to compose songs, many of them humorous. Songs published included 1908's "Rosemary" with words by Graham Robertson, and "Maid of the morning", "When a Pullet is Plump" and "The Elephant and the Portmanteau". In turn, these songs resulted in Norton composing music for stage shows, starting with "The Water Maidens" in 1901.

In 1911, Norton provided additional music for a production of Orpheus in the Underworld at His Majesty's Theatre, which was based on the Offenbach opera of the same name.

Norton was never again to achieve the same degree of success that he earned with Chu Chin Chow.

This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.