Dorothy Howard Talbot (born Dorothy Maud Cross; 1886 – 5 December 1965) was an English actor and director. After a brief acting career as Dorothy Langton, she married the musical theatre composer

Howard Talbot Howard Munkittrick, better known as Howard Talbot (9 March 1865 – 12 September 1928), was an American-born, English-raised composer and conductor of Irish descent. He was best known for writing the music to several hit Edwardian musical comedi ...

in 1910 and left the stage. She worked in stage management during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in the West End. From the 1920s to the 1950s, she was hired to direct musicals and light opera for amateur operatic and dramatic societies, at a time when there were few women performing this role.

Early life

Dorothy was born in Dersingham, Norfolk, the oldest daughter of Arthur Harry Cross, who was organist at

St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham is a Church of England parish church, in Norfolk, England. It is close to Sandringham House and members of the British royal family regularly attend services when in residence at Sandringham, notably at Chris ...

, from 1878 until his death in 1906. Her early education was at the West Norfolk and Lynn High School for Girls. She studied at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

for three terms during 1908, and while there she met the dramatist

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...

. She performed on the stage for a few years, using the stage name Dorothy Langton, but gave up acting after her marriage in 1910 to

, a composer of music for

Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy is a genre of British musical theatre that thrived from 1892 into the 1920s, extending beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions. It began to dominate the English musical stage, and even the American musical ...

. She then coached for Charles Hawtry's productions. During the first world war she assisted in stage management at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

, London, at which her husband was conductor.

Theatre director

After her husband died of lung disease in 1928, Talbot enrolled with the

National Operatic and Dramatic Association NODA has a membership of over 2m500 amateur theatre groups and 1000 individual enthusiasts throughout the UK, staging musicals, operas, plays, concerts and pantomimes in a wide variety of performing venues, ranging from the country's leading ...

(NODA), which enabled her to stage musical plays. She also lectured on courses that NODA organised. Talbot staged light operas, musicals and plays for the societies listed in the table below, amongst many others. She thought it best to rehearse amateur casts for 4-5 weeks before a production, with a dress rehearsal on the Sunday before opening, which was a departure from the earlier practise among amateur British societies, to avoid Sunday rehearsals. In 1953 she decided to focus on directing and acting in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

where she lived for the last years of her life.

Other activities

In 1925, Dorothy and her husband set up the Bletchingley and District Amateur Operatic Society with Howard as chair and herself as honorary director. She wrote a libretto with Percy Greenbank, from which a three-act comic opera, called ''Her Ladyship'', was produced, with lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by her husband,

. The opera was performed for the first time by the Stock Exchange Dramatic and Operatic Society at the

Scala Theatre The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772; the last was demolished in 1969, after a catastrophic fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was known as the ...

in London on 24 April 1928. She also lectured regularly in drama courses held at the Nottingham Co-operative Arts Centre and other venues and wrote a book about

stage makeup Theatrical makeup is makeup that is used to assist in creating the appearance of the characters that actors portray during a theater production. Background In Greek and Roman theatre, makeup was unnecessary. Actors wore various masks, allow ...

. During the second world war Talbot worked as a full time warden in Chelsea and also directed a play, ''

The Dark Lady The Dark Lady is a woman described in Shakespeare's sonnets (sonnets 127–152), and so called because the poems make it clear that she has black wiry hair, and dark, " dun"-coloured skin. The description of the Dark Lady distinguishes itself fr ...

'', with a new theatre club called the Carlyle Players, which she helped to found.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Dorothy Howard 1886 births 1965 deaths English theatre directors