Editing Operetta (section)

=== Origins ===
Operetta was first created in Paris, France in the middle of the 19th century in order to satisfy a need for short, light works in contrast to the full-length entertainment of the increasingly serious ''[[opéra comique]]''.<ref name="Lamb Operetta" /><ref name="Kurt1" /> By this time, the "comique" part of the genre name had become misleading: [[Georges Bizet]]'s ''[[Carmen]]'' (1875) is an example of an ''opéra comique'' with a tragic plot. The definition of "comique" meant something closer to "humanistic", meant to portray "real life" in a more realistic way, representing tragedy and comedy next to each other, as [[Shakespeare]] had done centuries earlier. With this new connotation, ''opéra comique'' had dominated the French operatic stage since the decline of ''[[tragédie lyrique]]''. The origins of French operetta began when comic actors would perform dances and songs to crowds of people at fairs on open-air stages. In the beginning of the 18th century these actors began to perform comic parodies of known operas. These performances formed operetta as a casual genre derived from ''opéra comique'', while returning to a simpler form of music.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Abreu |first=Juliana |date=2004 |title=The Origin and Development of French Operetta in the Nineteenth Century |id={{ProQuest|305111951}} |oclc=56597428 }}</ref> Many scholars have debated as to which composer should be credited as the inventor of operetta; [[Jacques Offenbach|Jaques Offenbach]] or [[Hervé (composer)|Hervé.]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Strömberg |first1=Mikael |title=History Repeating Itself. The function of turning points and continuity in three historical narratives on operetta |journal=Nordic Theatre Studies |date=27 December 2017 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=102 |doi=10.7146/nts.v29i1.102970 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |url=https://tidsskrift.dk/nts/article/download/103311/152354 }}</ref> It is concluded that Hervé completed the groundwork, and Offenbach refined and developed the art form into the concept of operetta as we know it today. Therefore, "Offenbach is considered the father of French operetta – but so is Hervé."<ref name=":1" />