ABSTRACT
A rash of new American operettas began to appear during the 1880s, although several of the initial efforts met with failure. Composer Reginald De Koven and lyricist Harry Bache Smith teamed up for the first time in 1887. Robin Hood opened in New York in 1891, and like the first production of Evangeline, played a fairly short initial run because of a previously scheduled booking in its theater. However, when it is truly believable to have the characters sing— during a church service, or while rocking a baby to sleep— the singing can be called source music, a diegetic song, or a prop song. With the triumph of Robin Hood, operetta began to dominate America's largest theaters, pushing vaudeville, farce-comedies, and other genres aside. The first major success of this combined strategy was The Wizard of Oz. The new operetta-extravaganza was Babes in Toyland, and it firmly established Victor Herbert as a leading name in American musical theater.
