Effetto Offenbach: novità e adattamenti nel teatro postunitario di e con musica

When operetta arrived in Italy during the second half of the nineteenth century, it brought new life to the local entertainment industry, thus contributing to the success of light musical theater. Offenbach’s operettas quickly took cities such as Milan and Naples by storm, as already since the mid-1860s a new wave of vernacular theater productions increased in popularity and number. Through the analysis of the relationship between operetta and urban theater practices in Milan and Naples, this essay highlights the consequences of such implementation on the national production system and, more importantly, on the transnational development of comic opera.