The popularity of French operetta spread around the world, and countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, England and the United States developed their own forms. Shorter in length, operettas were usually humourous, and satiric, contained spoken dialogue and usually incorporated ballet and dance. If Jacques Offenbach wasn’t the first to write an operetta then he was the first to make it into an indispensable entertainment of France’s Second Empire. Operas of the day could last for 4–5 hours, be rather grim or tragic, and often based on mythology or gods, and contain much thunder and lightning. It was in response to the need for shorter, and more light hearted works of entertainment, than the common opera of the day. It was initially popularised in France in the 1850s. But with an operetta it can be also named a light opera or a comic opera, or even a musical comedy. We know an opera when we see and hear it. T the description of a piece of musical entertainment as opera is much more clear cut than the term operetta. ROBERT RAY, who will be directing the show, provides a short history of Operetta, from the genre’s beginnings in France to its heyday in the first two decades of the twentieth century. In February 2023 Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Victoria (GSOV) will be staging a garden concert of highlights from Broadway Operetta, entitled ‘Only Make Believe’.
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