zarzuela
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun (noun) A short drama with incidental music, like a vaudeville. It is said to have been first introduced into Spain at Zarzuela in the seventeenth century.
Examples
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The Spanish zarzuela appears to have been the forerunner and origin of all musical farce and 'opera comique,' only naturalised in our country during the present generation.
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Spanish drama is popular, as well as the delightful Spanish 'zarzuela' or musical comedy.
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Before the first zarzuela based on the Chilean miners is staged, someone should think of putting on Adam Guettel's marvellous man-stuck-in-cave musical Floyd Collins.
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It's like zarzuela as imagined by the Marx Brothers, and it's about as close to real zarzuela as 'A Night at the Opera' is to 'Il Trovatore.'
Note
The etymology of 'zarzuela' is not certain, but it may derive from the Palacio de la Zarzuela, a Royal hunting lodge near Madrid, where this type of entertainment may have first taken place.
