Operetta and Its Influence on Musical Theater, Research Paper Example

Introduction: Definition and Origin

The term operetta comes from Italian language and in general it means a genre of light opera, where lightness is preserved in terms of both music and the topic being raised. The Columbia Encyclopedia provides a wider definition to the term stating that operetta is not simply a type of light opera, but it also has a frivolous, sentimental story, often employing parody and satire and containing both spoken dialogue and much light, pleasant music (Lagasse 2000, 1850).[1] The main contrast between the operetta and traditional opera (opera seria or grand opera) is that the latter always dealt with serious topics, was set in a mythical context and involved the usage of high voices (soprano and castrati), and it always had three acts.

As an independent genre operetta originated in the middle of the 19^th century and it grew up from the French opéra comique which contained spoken dialogue in addition to traditional arias. However, John Kenrick states that operetta was preceded by two forms of comic operas that thrived in Britain, France and Germany in the 1700s. Those were low comedies and high comedies. “Low comedies borrowed popular songs of the day and rewrote the lyrics to suite a particular plot”, but roughly speaking such ballads can’t be called ‘operas’ in their traditional meaning. On the contrast, the high comedies combined the music of grand-opera and the lightness of plot. As an example of low comedy John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera can be mentioned, and the high comedy can be best illustrated by The Bohemian Girl of Michael Balfe (John Kenrick 2008, 71-72).[2]

Operetta is considered to be a forerunner of the musical comedy or musicals. But there is a fundamental distinction between the two that makes the difference quite evident. While operetta is a light opera that involves some acting, musical is actually a play that contains singing. Therefore, the cast for operettas usually comes from the classically trained opera singers, while in musicals actors with good singing capabilities are starring, but they aren’t required to sing in an operatic style.

Genres That Preceded Operetta 

As it was mentioned in the introduction there existed several genres that were the forerunners of the operetta. Generally, in the 17^th and 18^th centuries the term ‘operetta’ was applied to different musical pieces that were shorter or less ambitious than operas. Those included opera buffa, singspiel, ballad operas, burlesque, vaudeville and high comedies.

Opera buffa. It is an Italian comic opera that is also described as ‘comedy in music’ and which was originally a part of traditional opera performance, but that grew up into a separate genre in the first half of the 18^th century in Naples, Italy. It was set as somewhat an opposition to the opera seria[3] and was characterized by such features as simple vocal writing, everyday setting, facility of patter, and use of local dialects. As an example of opera buffa can be listed Verdi’s Falstaff and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, the first composers that were creating musical pieces in the genre of opera buffa were Alessandro Scarlatti, Nicola Logroscino, and Baldassare Galuppi.

Singspiel. It is literally translated as a song-play and it represents a German-language music drama that originated as a lighter version of opera in the early 17^th century. According to the Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians “singspiel by no means exclude occasional recitative in the place of a spoken dialogue, but the moment the music helps to develop the dramatic denouement we have to do with opera and not with singspiel” (Fuller-Maitland 1908, 468-470).[4] The major feature of the singspiel in the use of spoken dialogue, its other characteristics include performance by travelling troupes rather than established companies, comic and romantic nature of a scene, involvement of fantastical and magical creatures, etc. The most vivid examples of a singspiel are the Mozart’s Zaide and Beethoven’s Fidelio.

Burlesque. As a musical genre burlesque emerged in the beginning of the 18^th century throughout all the Europe and was performed as a musical parody on serious operas. The main trait of the burlesque style was the combination of comic and serious elements with an aim of achieving grotesque effect and it was mostly performed for the middle class audience. This genre gradually merged into British music halls and American variety shows.

Low Comedies. This genre is also known as a ballad opera and it developed in England in the 18^th century as a protest to the Italian operas that by that time dominated the English stage (Fuller-Maitland 1908, 467-468).[5] It contained spoken dialogues, usually of satirical nature, short songs, and portrayed characters from the lower class, sometimes even criminals. As it was mentioned before the most successful examples of ballad opera is The Beggar’s Opera written by John Gay and its successor – Polly.

High Comedies. This genre emerged in the beginning of the 19^th century and on the contrast to the low comedies portrayed heroes from the genteel society. The authors of high comedies in their works used the combination of opera-like music and light romantic plots, therefore the melodies “appealed to the popular taste of the time” (John Kenrick 2008, 71-72).[6]  The most notable example is Michael Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl.

Vaudeville. It is a type of theatrical entertainment which originated in Paris, France, in the end of the 17^th century. French vaudevilles were comic pieces that combined lyrics and melody of popular songs. Later to the songs were added acrobatic displays, pantomimes, and plays. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera vaudeville gradually germinated into opéra comique and opera buffa, and it also had certain influence on the development of singspiel and ballad opera (Warrack and West 1996, 510).[7]

Opéra comique. It is a French version of singspiel and opera buffa and the direct predecessor of the operetta. Opéra comique combined the usage of arias and spoken dialogues, and sometimes of recitatives. Despite its title this genre didn’t always involve comic themes and plots. For example, the most famous opéra comique is Carmen which is actually a tragedy.

Components of Operetta

According to Neale “operetta is characterized by its European origins, its elegance and sophistication of its tone, its use of melodic, waltz-time music, its picturesque and exotic settings, and its strongly integrative organization around a melodramatic, romance-oriented book” (2000, 106).[8] But this is quite a narrow glance at operetta as a genre and the components that make it up. While speaking of operetta such elements as light music, spoken dialogues and colloquial language, comic and / or romantic plot, importance of libretto must be discussed.

Light music. Usually music in operettas is designed to be played by a simple theater orchestra, and not necessarily by an operatic-symphonic one. Also music should be light in a sense so that it tunes could be easily whistled and popular enough to be performed night after night. According to Traubner in operettas great attention is paid to “dramatic and musical characterization, wit and frivolity, and a more intelligent use of a chorus” (2003, 11).[9]

Libretto. The text of musical work in operettas is of great importance and it plays one of the major roles in this genre. In the contrast to grand-opera librettos in operettas are usually spoken rather than sung. It makes the performance more vivid as the plot is moving not simply from one musical number to another, but musical segments (chorus, recitatives, and arias) are diluted with clear and bright dialogues.  More importantly very often these dialogues don’t have any musical accompaniment, thus their text must be understandable, lifelike and pictorial by itself in order to keep the audience’s attention.

Dialogues and colloquial language. In addition to the difference between libretto in opera and that of operetta, there is also a great distinction between these two genres in regards to the development of the plot. In operetta it is carried out through dialogues which are interfered by musical numbers while in operas all the drama comes from the music and singing. Furthermore, these dialogues are executed in ‘common’ language making it easy for the audience to trace the plot. Therefore, operettas are more comprehendible and can be easily watched by the general public.

Plot. Even though operetta originated as a musical work of satirical and even farcical nature (through the works of Offenbach), still it has developed not simply as a genre of light opera, but it’s rather known today for its clear comical and romantic plots usually with happy end. Such plots aren’t that sophisticated and thus don’t require much background from the audience while the opera is quite difficult to comprehend without knowing its plot in advance. Thus merriment became somewhat a distinctive feature of operettas: “Gaiety and fun had by then moved over entirely to operetta” (Traubner 2003, 9).[10]

Another feature that distinguished operetta from opera seria or grand-opera is its length and format. Instead of usual three acts operetta is most often composed of two. To sum up a description of Traubner can be used: “It [operetta] is not heavy or grand, in a worldly or tragic sense, and, most importantly, should not be pretentious” (2003, 10).[11]

Development of Operetta in Europe

Before the First World War the capitals of operetta where that of Europe – Paris, Vienna, and London, but in the beginning of the 20^th century to the list of leading operetta cities were added New York, Budapest, and Berlin.

France: Offenbach and Herve

As a new genre operetta emerged in France in the middle of the 19^th century and most scholars state that it were the works of Jacques Offenbach that can be considered the first operettas. However, there are some experts in the field who point out that it is the early works of Adolphe Adam and Herve (a.k.a. Florimond Ronger) that were actually the first light operas. But still, as Kenrick puts forward: “It was Jacques Offenbach who would capture the Western world’s imagination, making musical theatre an international sensation” (2008, 67).[12]

Jacques Offenbach was a German-born French composer who had a great influence on the European popular music of the 19^th century. He became exceedingly popular in the period between 1850s and 1860s in both French- and English-speaking world due to his works in the genre of operetta. All of Offenbach’s numerous operettas were a kind of political and cultural satire and also a witty parody of the grand opera. His musical plays were considered by his contemporaries to be of extreme wit, grace and charm and nowadays they are also seen as a sort of social protest and critic against the establishment (Kracauer 2002, 206).[13]

In overall Jacques Offenbach composed 99 musical works, most of them being operettas. The most famous and best-known of them are Orpheus in the Underworld (1858), La belle Hélène (1864), The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (1867), and La Perichole (1868). However, the masterpiece of Offenbach’s musical career is considered to be his last operatic work – The Tale of Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) that was premiered shortly after composer’s death. One of the most exhilarating facts about Offenbach’s operettas is that they were the first musicals to achieve multi-lingual international success.

Orpheus in the Underworld was performed for the first time in 1858 and it is stated to be the first full-length operetta. It was not only longer than the previous works of Offenbach (before that according to the French law all operettas had to be one-acted), but it also had more vivid, complex and adventurous music (Lamb 1992, Vol.3).[14] It was also the first time that Greek mythology was used as the basis for the plot of an operetta. Scholars state that the success of Orpheus in the Underworld was due to the combination of operatic singing and light popular-style melodies. This operetta is also quite popular nowadays, especially its music for the “Can-can”. This operetta is also considered to be innovative in terms of music and singing:

“Orphee is the first major tenor hero, Eurydice, the first full-length soprano heroine…, Cupidon, the first soubrette of importance, and so on. More importantly, the chorus, for the first time, became an impressive unit of the operetta, an essential part of an action rather than an echo” (Traubner 2003, 36).[15]

Thus it can be said that Jacques Offenbach is the creator of operettas and the trailblazer in the genre of musical theater. As Kenrick states “Offenbach’s operettas are rarely heard today outside of France, but they made musical theater an important art form world wide in the late 1800s, inspiring Gilbert and Sullivan, Johann Strauss and others to further develop the form” (2008, 120).[16]

However, such scholars as Reynaldo Hahn and Ernest Newman doubt that it was Offenbach who created the operetta, instead they credit Louis Herve for inventing the genre of light opera (Newman 1953, 317).[17] His most famous work is Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança which was staged in 1848 and disputes around this work continue to flourish today as some critics state that it was the first operetta while others postulate that it was simply a burlesque on Don Quixote.  As the rivalry exists between the admirers and followers of Herve and Offenbach, in the same way it existed between the composers themselves. Herve’s tunes were acknowledged for their fastness, and the interesting fact about them is that the faster they were the more memorable they became. Eventually Herve composed around 60 comic light operas (Chilperic (1868), La Petit Faust (1869), La Cosaque (1884), etc.), but in contrast to the works of Offenbach most of them are forgotten and not performed nowadays.

England: Sullivan and Gilbert

First operettas in England were called comic operas and the later works in this genre were known as musical comedies. The development of operetta in Britain was based on the French model and a lot of English composer followed in their works the examples of their French colleagues of the post-1850s period. One of the main indicative traits of the English operetta is that it was designed to serve the taste of the middle class who before that was rarely seen in theaters or music halls.

Still, despite the quick development of operetta in England, the most prolific and famous production in the field was carried out by the legendary partnership of librettist William Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan. In the period between 1871 and 1896 this duet composed fourteen comic operettas, a cycle of which came to be known as Savoy Operas (due to the title of the theatre where they were performed – Savoy Theatre). Their operettas had an outstanding influence on the further development of musical theater as they were innovative in both form and content. Several of the most famous works by Sullivan and Gilbert include The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1885) and Iolanthe (1882).

One of the most successful of all the Savoy Operas is The Mikado, which was produced in 1885. As the scene of the operetta is set in Japan, this gave its authors the possibility to more freely criticize and satirize the British politics and institutions. Nowadays The Mikado remains the most frequently performed Savoy Opera, being also the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in the history (Bradley 1996, 115).[18]

Another of Gilbert’s and Sullivan’s operettas that made a lot of ‘noise’ in the days of its first performance was Iolanthe (it was the first in the cycle of Savoy Operas). Composed in 1882 it satirized the British laws and government, but still the authors managed to keep the criticism in the frames of good humor so that the operetta was received positively. Many scholars consider Iolanthe to be one of Sullivan’s greatest works in terms of music for operettas: “Iolanthe is the work in which Sullivan’s operetta style takes a definite step forward, and metamorphosis of musical themes is its characteristic new feature…Sullivan made the score more fluid” (Jacobs 1984, 176-79).[19]

In overall it can be concluded that the operetta style collaboration of Gilbert and Sullivan had a tremendous impact on both the musical and cultural worlds. For instance, lines and quotations from their light operas eventually became a great part of English-speaking popular culture. Their musical pieces also served as an inspiration for a large variety of later composers including Adrian Ross, Guy Bolton, Jerome Kern, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Austria: Strauss, Jr. and von Suppe 

Nowadays Austrian (or to be more precise Viennese) operetta is considered to be the strongest of all the surviving national operetta’s schools in the world. Viennese operetta was developing on the basis of already existing European tendencies in the genre, but Austrian composers and librettists managed to take the best from the Italian opera and French operetta, incorporating all the distinguishing features of both, and thus to produce a unique and distinct national product. Important traits of Viennese operettas are: frequent use of waltzes, wit and sly humor, glamour and style, influence of Zauberspiel (magic play) and Posse (farce).

When the popularity of French operettas came to Vienna the first Austrian composer who took the national lead in the genre was Franz von Suppe. In overall he wrote around 30 operettas, but majority of them failed to become long-lasting hits even though they were international sensations of their time. Von Suppe’s most famous and successful works include Die Schone Galathee (The Beautiful Galatea 1865), Fatinitza (1876), and Boccaccio (1876).

But it is Johann Strauss II who is considered to be the Father of the nineteenth-century Viennese operetta as well as the “The Waltz King”. In his operetta style musical pieces Strauss Jr. was greatly influenced by the works of Offenbach. In overall Viennese composer completed sixteen operettas that were highly acclaimed by both audience and critics of that time. Among his best known light operas are Die Fledermaus (The Bat 1874) and Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron 1885).

It was Strauss’s forth operetta – Die Fledermaus – that gained the greatest popularity. “Die Flendermaus became immensely popular throughout the world and today can be found not only in theaters specializing in operettas and musicals but also in the world’s most prestigious opera houses, among them the Vienna Staatsoper, the New York Metropolitan Opera and London’s Royal Opera House” (Osborne 2004, 411).[20] The overture, which is a potpourri of several tunes from the operetta, has become the most famous and favorite part of the entire light opera and is often included into various concerts of classical music.

In conclusion, once again, it should be stated that nowadays Viennese school of operetta is considered to be the greatest among all the surviving national schools, preserving its traditions and continuing them through the performance of the most notable works in the genre.

Operetta in America

American Operetta of the Early 1900s

The genre of operetta reached America in the late 19^th century and at that time the greatest popularity with this new audience had the Viennese school of light opera. Especially successful were works of such composers as von Suppe, Millöcker and Strauss II, but it was Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow (1905) that had the greatest influence on the development of this genre in the United States of America.

The first American composer who produced musical works in the operetta style was Victor Herbert. He gained intense popularity by producing light operas on the basis of the European operettas. His work was especially influenced by Gilbert & Sullivan and the Viennese school. In overall Herbert produced 43 operettas that were of extreme popularity in his time and can still be seen today on Broadway. Some of his major successes include Babes in Toyland (1903), Naughty Marietta (1910), Sweethearts (1913), and Eileen (1917).

Naughty Marietta is stated by many scholars to be the most important among all the early American operettas. According to Knapp it “exemplifies the “in-between” aspect of American operetta” due to the fact that it was the first show of impresario Oscar Hammerstein who decided not to stage operas and since it featured vocally demanding roles (2009, 31).[21] Naughty Marietta is often viewed as the first Americanized version of Lehar’s style and tradition. Like the work of Lehar this operetta incorporates in itself the Gypsy music, Viennese waltz and Parisian cancan and it also follows The Merry Widow’s emphasis on the historical issue of human freedom and slavery through the application of individual examples and relationships between characters.

Through the works of Victor Herbert the history of American musical theatre of the 19^th and the early 20^th century can be traced quite easily. While European-style operettas were popular in America in the late 19^th and the early 20^th century, the situation changed completely after the First World War. In the mid-1900s new musical styles were born, including ragtime and jazz, and new dance styles of foxtrot and tango appeared. This had a vast impact on the development of American musical theater as musicals started to gain popularity. As the tastes of the audience required new musical pieces to be produced, Herbert switched to writing music for musical comedies. But those didn’t have such tremendous success as his operettas did and therefore Herbert remains in the history of American music as the composer of its first operettas (Bordman 1981, 43).[22]

Among other composers who contributed to the development of American operetta are Rudolf Friml, Oscar Hammerstein (lyricist), George Gershwin, and Sigmund Romberg. Friml completed his most famous operettas in 1920s, including Rose-Marie (1924), The Vagabond King (1925), and The Three Musketeers (1928) and then he turned to the composition of musicals. George Gershwin’s musical works can’t be called operettas as they are rather a combination of opera and musical due to the fact that they possess “elements of popular music of the day, with a strong influence of Negro music, with techniques typical of opera, such as recitative, through-composition and an extensive system of leitmotifs” (Jablonski 1987, 155-170).[23] Gershwin’s most notable work in this genre is a “folk opera” Porgy and Bess (1935). Sigmund Romberg was another American composer who continued to produce operettas in the style set by Franz Lehar. His most well-known operettas include The Student Prince (1924), The Desert Song (1926), and The New Moon (1928). Later in his career Romberg turned to musicals, but as in the case with Herbert they were much less successful than his early operetta style works.

Thus in the beginning of the 20^th century (notably after the World War I) the genre of operetta began to loose its popularity as a new one emerged which actually was an extension of the European tradition. That was musical comedy or simply musical. However, nowadays it is quite difficult to distinguish a definite difference between operetta and other genres that appeared in America of the 20^th century, including musicals and rock operas.

Post-Depression Musicals

As it was mentioned earlier after the mid-1920s operetta has given its way to musical comedies and “operatic” musicals. The Great Depression of the 1930s had an outstanding influence on the development of musical theatre. Despite the fact that the vast majority of the former audience couldn’t afford spending money on entertainment, still 1930s were marked by the exiting development of musical theater. In 1931 was produced the first musical to be awarded the Pulitzer Price – Of Thee I Sing; in 1938 the musical Hellzapoppin was premiered which turned out to be the longest running piece in the musical theatres of the 1930s. The period of the Great Depression actually marked somewhat a turning point in the development of American musicals as it was the period when a transition from the romantic operettas and showgirls musicals toward a combination of political satire and sophisticated music was made.

The major event in the musical theaters’ life of the 1940s was the production of Oklahoma! in 1943. It was the first joint work of the composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II and it immediately turned out to be a real sensation smashing the post-office and becoming one of the greatest American musicals. According to Riis its success was due to the fact that it was one of the first so called book musicals “where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story, with serious dramatic goals, that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than laughter” (2002, 137).[24]

The 1950s were marked by the large number of musical adaptations made out of the classical literature pieces. The most popular among them where: My Fair Lady (1951) which was an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion; The West Side Story (1957) – the integration of Romeo and Juliet into a modern day New York City; and the musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (1960). It should also be noted that at this time one of the latest American operettas was composed. That is Candide of Leonard Bernstein which was first performed on the Broadway in 1956 and hasn’t been a complete success back then, but which has gained its popularity in the later years and can still be seen on stage today.

In 1960s the era of rock musicals which are also called rock operas began with Hair (1967) which was a product of sexual revolution and hippy counter-culture and promoted an anti-war movement. The main feature of a rock opera is of course the use of rock music, another is that “some rock musicals have no dialogue or are otherwise reminiscent of opera, with dramatic, emotional themes” (Wollman 2006, 14).[25] One of the most famous and outstanding rock operas of all times is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar of 1971. However, in the 1980s there was a decline in the popularity of rock operas as the audience became more favorable with European pop score oriented products. The greatest of that period were the British The Phantom of the Opera by Webber and the French Les Miserables. Another feature that marked the development of musicals in the 1970s was the presence of African-American impact on the music and the mixture of various styles.

The 1980s and 1990s could be called the era of Andrew Lloyd Webber whose musicals became worldwide hits and today are still present on the major scenes. In addition to The Phantom of the Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar among his most popular works are: Evita (1978) which tells the story of the first lady of Argentina Eva Perón; Cats (1981) which is based on the poems of T. S. Eliot; Starlight Express (1984) and Sunset Boulevard (1993).

The 1980s can also be characterized by the emergence of the so-called jukebox musicals which are based on the popular songs of a particular performer. The most famous jukebox musicals are Mamma Mia! which originated from the songs of a popular Swedish band ABBA and Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story which is about the life of a well known rock’n’roll singer Buddy Holly. The period of 1990s was featured by the production of a great number of musicals on the basis of popular Disney cartoons. Those include: The Lion King (1997), Beauty and The Beast (1994), The Little Mermaid (2007), Tarzan (2006).

There is one sad point that should be noted about the development of musicals today. For the most part they can’t be considered theatrical performances any more as they have turned into somewhat a tourist attraction. For example, the Broadway shows are much more popular today with foreign tourists than with the national audience. It is considered to be some kind of a bad taste while being in the New York City not to visit al least one of the Broadway’s plays. In addition, almost all the musicals that are produced today are not original materials, but rather adaptations of successful movies or animations. Therefore, it is quite logical to assume that people are eager to watch what they have already seen rather than to experience something new and original.

Conclusion

Even though today operettas and musicals are considered to be quite different genres, still it seems to me that it is pretty impossible to conduct a study on operetta without providing a research on musicals and vice versa as musical comedy is a logical continuation of operetta’s traditions. As a conclusion it should be stated that classical operettas nowadays can rarely be seen on large international scenes such as Broadway or London Royal Opera House. For the most part it is small independent opera groups that keep this genre alive and continue to produce it on stage. Among such independent groups the most successful are the Light Opera of Manhattan, Bel Canto Opera, and the Opera Ensemble of New York. On the contrast, large international producers are more motivated to stage either musicals or serious opera works as these genres are more flourishing and popular with the modern audience.

References

Bordman, Gerard M. 1981. American operetta: from H.M.S. Pinafore to Sweeney Todd. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bradley, Ian. 1996. The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan. England: Oxford University Press.

Fuller-Maitland, John Alexander, ed. 1908. The Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol.4. London: MacMillan and Co.

Jablonski, Edward. 1987. Gershwin: A Biography. New York: Double Day.

Jacobs, Arthur. 1984. Arthur Sullivan – A Victorian Musician. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kenrick, John. 2008. Musical Theatre: A History. London: Continuum.

Knapp, Raymond. 2009. The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Kracauer, Siegfried. 2002. Jacques Offenbach and the Paris of His Time. Trans. Gwenda David and Eric Mosbacher. New York: Zone Books.

Lagasse, Paul, ed. 2000. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6^th edition. Farmington Hills: Gale Group.

Lamb, Andrew. 1992. “Orphée aux enfers”. In The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie, Vol.3. London: Oxford University Press.

Neale, Steve. 2000. Genre and Hollywood. New York: Routledge.

Newman, Ernest. 1953. The Opera Reader. New York: McGraw Hills.

Osborne, Charles. 2004. The Opera Lover’s Companion. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Riis, Thomas L., with Ann Sears and William A. Everett. 2008. In The Cambridge Companion to the Musical. Eds. William A Everett and Paul R. Laird. England: Cambridge University Press.

Smith, Patrick J. 1970. The Tenth Muse: A Historical Study of the Opera Libretto. New York: A. A. Knopf.

Traubner, Richard. Operetta: A Theatrical History. New York: Routledge.

Warrack, John, and Ewan West. 1996. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 3^rd ed. USA: Oxford University Press.

Wollman, Elizabeth L. 2006. The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from Hair to Hedwig. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.

[1] Paul Lagasse, ed., The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6^th edition (Farmington Hills: Gale Group, 2000), 1850.

[2] John Kenrick, Musical Theatre: A History (London: Continuum, 2008), 71-72.

[3] Patrick J. Smith, The Tenth Muse: A Historical Study of the Opera Libretto (New York: A. A. Knopf, 1970), 103.

[4] John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, ed., The Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol.4 (London: MacMillan and Co., 1908), 468-470.

[5] John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, ed., The Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol.4 (London: MacMillan and Co., 1908), 467-468.

[6] John Kenrick, Musical Theatre: A History (London: Continuum, 2008), 71-72.

[7] John Warrack and Ewan West, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 3^rd ed. (USA: Oxford University Press, 1996), 510.

[8] Steve Neale, Genre and Hollywood (New York: Routledge, 2000), 106.

[9] Richard Traubner, Operetta: A Theatrical History (New York: Routledge, 2003), xi.

[10] Richard Traubner, Operetta: A Theatrical History (New York: Routledge, 2003), ix.

[11] Richard Traubner, Operetta: A Theatrical History (New York: Routledge, 2003), x.

[12] John Kenrick, Musical Theatre: A History (London: Continuum, 2008), 67.

[13] Siegfried Kracauer, Jacques Offenbach and the Paris of His Time, trans. Gwenda David and Eric Mosbacher (New York: Zone Books, 2002), 206.

[14] Andrew Lamb, “Orphée aux enfers” in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Oxford University Press, 1992), Vol.3.

[15] Richard Traubner, Operetta: A Theatrical History (New York: Routledge, 2003), 36.

[16] John Kenrick, Musical Theatre: A History (London: Continuum, 2008), 120.

[17] Ernest Newman, The Opera Reader, (New York: McGraw Hills, 1953), 317.

[18] Ian Bradley, The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan (England: Oxford University Press, 1996), 115.

[19] Arthur Jacobs, Arthur Sullivan – A Victorian Musician (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984), 176-79.

[20] Charles Osborne, The Opera Lover’s Companion (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004), 411.

[21] Raymond Knapp, The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009), 31.

[22] Gerald M. Bordman, American operetta: from H.M.S. Pinafore to Sweeney Todd (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981), 43.

[23] Edward Jablonski, Gershwin: A Biography (New York: Double Day, 1987), 155-170.

[24] Thomas L. Riis with Ann Sears and William A. Everett in The Cambridge Companion to the Musical, eds. William A Everett and Paul R. Laird (England: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 137.

[25] Elizabeth L. Wollman, The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from Hair to Hedwig (Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2006), 14.