Editing Otto Harbach (section)

===Career (1912–1936)===
Harbach's work with Hoschna had established his reputation as a competent Broadway lyricist and librettist. Producer [[Arthur Hammerstein]] asked Harbach in 1912 to serve as librettist for a new operetta called ''[[The Firefly (operetta)|The Firefly]]'', to be composed by [[Rudolf Friml]]. Harbach set his libretto in contemporary Manhattan and Bermuda, which differed from the typical European setting for operettas.<ref name="Bordman-Am-Operetta">{{cite book |page= 94 |title=American Operetta: From H.M.S Pinafore to Sweeney Todd |author= Bordman, Gerald|year=1981 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location=New York}}</ref> The result was a huge success, with hits such as "Sympathy", "Giannina Mia", and "Love is Like a Firefly".<ref name="hischak-word-crazy"/>

The success of ''The Firefly'' led to ten more musical collaborations for librettist Harbach, composer Friml, and producer Arthur Hammerstein, including ''[[High Jinks (musical)|High Jinks]]'' (1913) and ''[[Katinka (operetta)|Katinka]]'' (1915).<ref name="everett-friml">{{cite book |page= 18 |title= Rudolph Friml |author= Everett, William. |year=2008 |publisher= University of Illinois Press |location= Urbana and Chicago}}</ref> Most of the shows Harbach and Friml wrote ran for over 200 performances each, which was a successful run for the time period.

Harbach also worked on projects with other collaborators during this time. In 1914, he contributed the libretto only to the [[Percy Wenrich]] musical ''[[The Crinoline Girl]]''. He collaborated with composer [[Louis Hirsch]] and scored his biggest success thus far in his career in 1917 with ''[[Going Up (musical)|Going Up]]''.<ref name=":0" /> This was his first attempt at a musical comedy, as opposed to an American operetta.<ref name="google.com" /> The show was based on the 1910 comedy ''The Aviator'' by James Montgomery, who co-wrote the libretto with Harbach. The show ran for 351 performances, toured nationally, and was an even larger hit in London. Also in 1917, he shortened his name from Hauerbach to Harbach to avoid anti-German sentiment caused by [[World War I]].<ref name="google.com">{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/broadway00unkngoog |page= [https://archive.org/details/broadway00unkngoog/page/n351 217] |quote= All Aboard for Dixie otto harbach. |title=Broadway: An Encyclopedia |author= Bloom, Ken |year=2003 |publisher= Routledge |location=New York |access-date=August 24, 2015}}</ref> Harbach and Hirsch collaborated on another notable Broadway production in 1920, ''[[Mary (musical)|Mary]]''.<ref name="hischak"/>

Also around 1920, producer Arthur Hammerstein introduced his nephew Oscar Hammerstein II to Harbach.<ref name="nolan">{{cite book |page= 36 |title=The Sound of Their Music: The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein |author= Nolan, Frederick |year=2002 |publisher= Applause Theatre and Cinema Books |location=New York}}</ref> Oscar was an aspiring lyricist and book writer, and Harbach became his mentor. Harbach encouraged Oscar to treat writing for the musical theatre as a "serious art form." Together, they wrote book and lyrics for ''[[Tickle Me (play)|Tickle Me]]'' (1920), ''Jimmie'' (1920), ''[[Wildflower (musical)|Wildflower]]'' (1923), ''[[Rose-Marie]]'' (1924), ''[[Sunny (musical)|Sunny]]'' (1925), ''[[Song of the Flame]]'' (1925), ''The Wild Rose'' (1926), ''[[The Desert Song]]'' (1926), ''Golden Dawn'' (1927), and ''Good Boy'' (1928).<ref name="hischak"/>

Harbach and Hammerstein's operetta collaboration, ''[[Wildflower (musical)|Wildflower]]'' (1923), was Harbach's first work with composer [[Vincent Youmans]]. Harbach would then collaborate with composer Youmans, co-lyricist [[Irving Caesar]], and co-librettist [[Frank Mandel]] on the 1925 hit musical comedy ''[[No, No, Nanette]]''.

Harbach first collaborated with Broadway composer [[Jerome Kern]] on ''[[Sunny (musical)|Sunny]]'' (1925), and they would continue to work together on subsequent musicals, including ''[[Criss Cross (musical)|Criss Cross]]'' (1926), ''[[The Cat and the Fiddle (musical)|The Cat and the Fiddle]] (1931)'', and ''[[Roberta (musical)|Roberta]]'' (1933). Broadway historian Thomas S. Hischak states that Harbach's lyrics for Kern were the finest of his career. ''The Cat and the Fiddle'' was especially notable, as Harbach (writing both book and lyrics) and Kern aimed to create a modern operetta set in contemporary Brussels "in which music and story were indispensable to each other."<ref name="hischak-word-crazy"/> Hits from ''The Cat and the Fiddle'' included "Try to Forget," "[[She Didn't Say Yes]]", "The Breeze Kissed Your Hair", and "The Night Was Made for Love". ''Roberta'' included the hits "[[Smoke Gets in Your Eyes]]", "[[Yesterdays (1933 song)|Yesterdays]]", "You're Devastating", and "The Touch of Your Hand".<ref name="hischak-word-crazy"/>
 
By the mid-1930s, Harbach's operetta-influenced style was no longer current on Broadway. His final major production was a collaboration with operetta composer [[Sigmund Romberg]], ''Forbidden Melody'' (1936).<ref name="hischak-word-crazy"/>

In addition to his musical collaborations, Harbach also wrote non-musical farce plays for the Broadway stage, including ''[[Up in Mabel's Room (play)|Up in Mabel's Room]]''.<ref name="oharbach-nytimes-obit"/>