Continuing my mini-enthusiasm for Sir Arthur Sullivan (see my Sir Arthur
Sullivan Day thread from last month), I listened to a G&S Greatest Hits CD
today.  My wife posed one of *those* questions: What makes it an operetta?
I said, "The heroine doesn't die." I thought that was pretty good for the
spur of the moment.

Well, listers, what does make an operetta? The fact that it makes you
laugh? That it's fun? The type of music? Is there such a thing as an
operetta that might be opera? Or are they two separate and distinct art
forms?

Mitch Friedfeld
(too many questions, too little understanding)