Editing Die Fledermaus (section)

==Background==
The original literary source for ''{{Lang|de|Die Fledermaus}}'' was ''{{Lang|de|Das Gefängnis}}'' (''The Prison''), a [[farce]] by German playwright [[Roderich Benedix|Julius Roderich Benedix]]<ref name="New Grove"/> that premiered in Berlin in 1851. On 10 September 1872, a three-act French [[Comédie en vaudeville|vaudeville]] play by [[Henri Meilhac]] and [[Ludovic Halévy]], ''{{Lang|fr|Le Réveillon}}'', loosely based on the Benedix farce, opened at the [[Théâtre du Palais-Royal]].<ref>[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k297412/f5.image Play text for ''Le Réveillon'', viewable at the Gallica website], accessed 1 September 2016.</ref> Meilhac and Halévy had provided several successful libretti for [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]] and ''Le Réveillon'' later formed the basis for the 1926 silent film ''[[So This Is Paris (1926 film)|So This Is Paris]]'', directed by [[Ernst Lubitsch]].

Meilhac and Halévy's play was soon translated into German by Karl Haffner (1804–1876), at the instigation of [[Maximilian Steiner|Max Steiner]], as a non-musical play for production in Vienna. The French custom of a New Year's Eve ''[[réveillon]]'', or supper party, was not considered to provide a suitable setting for the Viennese theatre, so it was decided to substitute a ball for the ''réveillon''. Haffner's translation was then passed to the playwright and composer [[Richard Genée]],<ref name="New Grove">[[Andrew Lamb (writer)|Lamb, Andrew]]. Die Fledermaus. In: ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.</ref> who had provided some of the lyrics for Strauss's ''[[Der Karneval in Rom]]'' the year before, and he completed the libretto.