THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

James Paxton (1880)

[Born Murton, Northumberland 23 Mar 1852, died Chicago 17 Oct 1896]

James Pyburn Paxton moved to Chicago with his parents in the 1860s. It was there, while studying music at Allen's Academy and singing in the choir of the Third Unitarian Church, that he was introduced to comic opera as Mr. Box in an amateur production of Burnand and Sullivan's Cox and Box. In 1879, like most singers, he took his turn in H.M.S. Pinafore as Captain Corcoran in a company managed by Bruno Kennicott.

In February 1880, Paxton appeared as Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance with D'Oyly Carte's Third American Pirates Company. The tour lasted until July but in March Paxton was replaced in the role by Louis Pfau. After Pirates, Paxton would continue to tour the mid-west in light opera with a variety of companies into the 1890s.

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