zarzuela
Americannoun
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zarzuelas
plural
noun
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a type of Spanish vaudeville or operetta, usually satirical in nature
-
a seafood stew
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of zarzuela
1885–90; < Spanish, after La Zarzuela, palace near Madrid where first performance took place (1629)
Explanation
Zarzuela is a genre of Spanish musical theater that blends singing, spoken dialogue, and dancing. A zarzuela is usually lighthearted and comical, like a story about a mischievous fisherman accidentally starting a village feud over a stolen sardine. A zarzuela is like a vibrant mini opera, or operetta, with a uniquely Spanish flair. It combines popular music and classical music with elements of folk storytelling and dance. Zarzuela originated in 17th-century Spain, where it became a popular form of entertainment for the common, everyday people, focusing on relevant societal and cultural themes. A zarzuela may include political satire and often includes romantic entanglements that resolve happily.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
How to make zarzuela as contemporary theater is something L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2019
From a modern perspective, though, zarzuela can offer relevance.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2019
Chang, the Guatemalan tenor of partial Chinese ancestry, not only won first place but also received the male prize for zarzuela, the Spanish operatic genre, as well as an audience prize voted by the public.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2014
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.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 16, 2010
The habanera’s strict dotted 3 + 1 pattern was handed down to the Spanish zarzuela, the Cuban danzon, the Brazilian maxixe and the Argentinian and Uruguayan tango.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Mr. Capasso said it would be part of a new series, Ópera en Español, that will aim to engage New York’s Spanish-speaking audience by offering zarzuelas and other operas in Spanish in future seasons.
From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2016
Don Carlos did what irate fathers always do in zarzuelas: he threatened to pack Angelita off to a convent.
From Time Magazine Archive
Returning to Pampanga, he joined a boyhood friend, handsome Rogelio de la Rosa, in writing, producing and acting in Tagalog operettas patterned after the classic Spanish zarzuelas.
From Time Magazine Archive
Are Spanish nightclub acts and zarzuelas sometimes performed by stuttering septuagenarians, Goyaesque dwarfs, and faded, toothless beauties?
From Time Magazine Archive
During the summer season the theatrical opportunities of Madrid are mainly limited to the popular zarzuelas, or operettas, four of which are usually given in an evening.
From Spanish Highways and Byways by Katharine Lee Bates
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
