A short, light, musical drama.
Italian for 'little work' there is no exact definition of the term operetta. It describes a musical stage work in lighter operatic style, usually with spoken dialogue and nearly always of a comic nature. A great deal of musical snobbery exists on the subject of operetta. Many people think because it's light in style it's light in quality. The masters of the genre were Lehár, Offenbach and Strauss II.
A lighthearted opera with spoken dialogue, much like a musical.
Light-hearted musical entertainment containing dance, spoken dialogue, practical jokes, and mistaken identities. Operettas were especially popular in the late 19th century.
Literally, “little operaâ€, an operetta is a shorter, lighter, comic opera including an overture, songs, interludes, dialogue and dances. Very popular in late 19th and early 20th century Vienna and France. Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Johann Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus and Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado are all operettas from this period.
Light opera often spoken lines as well as music.
or MUSICAL COMEDY — A play, much of which is spoken but which has many musical numbers. See also SINGSPIEL.
a form of a play acted out on stage with music in the form of songs and choruses
a romantic comic opera that includes songs and dancing, originally limited to a single act
a theatrical production with many of the musical elements of opera but is lighter and more popular in subject, style and contains spoken dialogue
A usually romantic comic opera. John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, Richard Sheridan's The Duenna, and numerous works by William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan are examples of operettas.
A light-hearted classical musical play with both sung and spoken dialogue, which later became the basis for Broadway musicals. Examples include the works of Gilbert and Sullivan ("Pirates of Penzance", "The Mikado", "HMS Pinafore") and Franz Lehar ("The Merry Widow")
A style of theatre in-between opera and musical theatre. Generally, it's a comedy with both music and script. It contains classically-inspired music, sung in a legitimate style.
Light, frothy musical entertainments which generally do not pertain to terrifically important subject material; spoken dialogue, dancing, practical jokes and mistaken identities seem to be the trademark of the operetta form, most popular in late 19th century Vienna or France, under the hands of the Strauss family or Offenbach. DIE FLEDERMAUS, THE MERRY WIDOW, LA PÉRICHOLE and Noel Coward's BITTER SWEET are all operettas.
Light-hearted musical entertainment containing dance, spoken dialogue, and practical jokes. A musical.
Light hearted opera with spoken dialogue, such as a musical.
Britannica.com says: "musical-dramatic production similar in structure to an opera but characteristically having a romantically sentimental plot interspersed with songs, orchestral music, and rather elaborate dancing...." To label a Broadway musical an operetta is to deride it for being old-fashioned, corny, and slow-moving. Sigmund Romberg was probably the most noted composer of operettas, including The Desert Song. One reason a lot of people loathe ALW's musicals (aside from the banal music) is that they veer into operetta territory. Shows like Sweeney Todd and Porgy and Bess are considered opera, not operetta.
think of Operetta as Light Opera (although Opera Lite is probably going a bit too far toward pejorative). It generally entails comedic subject matter, and spoken dialogue instead of recitative. What primarily distinguishes Operetta from Musical Comedy is Operetta's classical score, requiring classically trained musicians in the orchestra pit and on the stage.
Operetta (literally, "little opera") is a performance art-form similar to opera, though it generally deals with less serious topics. Often some of the libretto is spoken rather than sung (but this is true of some operas as well). Instead of moving from one musical number (literally so indicated in the scores) to another, the performers in operetta intersperse the musical segments (e.g. aria, recitative, chorus) with periods of dialogue without any singing or musical accompaniment, though sometimes some musical themes are played quietly under the dialogue).