Trevor Penoyer-Kulin

“Opérette 1872-1898: A Foundational History”

My dissertation seeks to document the rise of French operetta  as a sociocultural and institutional phenomenon from the beginning of the 1870s up until the end of the nineteenth century. The most popular theatrical genre in France during that period, French operetta -- or opérette as it is also called -- has nonetheless been regularly neglected in the scholarly literature. By creating a foundational text that explicates the industry and its relationship to the sociocultural forces that produced it, this dissertation will not only open up the field of operetta studies generally, but will also provide greater insight into the theatrical and musical landscape of Third Republic France.