burletta

American  

[ber-let-uh] / bərˈlɛt ə /

noun

Theater.

1. (in the 18th and 19th centuries) a musical drama containing rhymed lyrics and resembling comic opera or a comic play containing songs.

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Etymology

Origin of burletta

1740–50; < Italian, equivalent to burl ( a ) jest ( see burlesque) + -etta -ette

Example Sentences

Cooper's novel has been dramatized by E. Fitzball, under the same name, and Long Tom Coffin preserves in the burletta his reckless daring, his unswerving fidelity, his simple-minded affection, and his love for the sea.

From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook by Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham

Oliver Twist: a serio-comic burletta, in four acts.

From Life of Charles Dickens by Marzials, Frank T. (Frank Thomas)

This proving a success was immediately followed by a burletta, entitled The Opera of Operas, based on Fielding’s Tragedy of Tragedies.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

So now "burletta licenses" were issued, under cover of which melodramas were presented, with entertainments of music and dancing, spectacle and pantomime.

From A Book of the Play Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character by Cook, Dutton

This burletta helps to develop the plan which it is the intention of the “council” to follow up in their agonising efforts to resuscitate the expiring drama.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, September 12, 1841 by Various