 (1867), "The Merry Zingara; or, the Tipsy Gipsy and the Pipsy Wipsy" (1868) and "Robert the Devil, or The Nun, the Dun, and the Son of a Gun" (1868) had parodied comic or romantic operas.The critic of "The Morning Post" had asserted that parodying comic opera was a much more difficult undertaking than parodying tragic opera, and instanced "Norma" as "an eminently tragic work", far easier to burlesque.The work was written for the opening of the new Charing Cross Theatre.