zarzuela, form of Spanish or Spanish-derived musical theatre in which the dramatic action is carried through an alternating combination of song and speech. Topics of the libretti (texts of the productions) vary widely, ranging from stories derived from Greco-Roman mythology to tales of modern-day life in Madrid, in former Spanish colonies, or in other areas with a large Hispanic population. Most zarzuelas incorporate vocal ensemble numbers (such as trios and duets), lyrical solo songs known as romanzas, various types of local folk musics, and dance.
The use of music in stage plays had become a standard practice in Spain by the late 15th century, and that practice laid the foundation for the emergence of various forms of Spanish musical theatre. During the early to mid-17th century the arts found favour among the Spanish nobility. King Philip IV (reigned 1621–65) often hosted extravagant receptions that included performances of short comic plays with musical accompaniment. Many of these events were held in La Zarzuela, the royal hunting lodge, so named because it was surrounded by zarzas (“brambles”). Musical theatre performances of the type held at the lodge eventually became known as zarzuelas. Later, during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), such zarzuela performances not only became an official royal spectacle—i.e., a form of entertainment that was sanctioned by the court and intended mainly for the monarchs and the Spanish nobility—but also played an active role in the social and political consolidation of Spain as a monarchy and as a colonial power.
Ultimately, the period of royal sponsorship of zarzuela productions was short-lived, as Italian and French opera became increasingly popular in Spain during the 18th century. Even the Spanish royalty grew to favour foreign opera over local forms of musical theatre. In an attempt to reestablish the integrity of local tradition, King Charles IV decreed at the turn of the 19th century that all foreign operas be performed in Spanish by Spanish citizens. The move did not, however, immediately spark the resurgence of a “national” musical theatre along the lines of the earlier zarzuela-style performances. Rather, the foreign titles continued to be staged, the only significant difference being the language of the texts—now Spanish—and the plots and style of the productions stayed essentially the same. Although it did not entirely yield the intended result, Charles IV’s initiative nevertheless provided Spanish singers with more performance opportunities than they had had in previous decades. Moreover, it laid the foundation for the creation of training schools that would ultimately help to maintain a solid tradition of musical theatre in Spain.
After the Spanish War of Independence, during which musical theatre productions were scarce, Spanish stages continued to be dominated by foreign forms, particularly the French operetta and the Italian bel canto opera, the latter of which was overwhelmingly favoured by King Ferdinand VII. According to Charles IV’s earlier decree, however, the repertoire still had to be performed in Spanish by Spanish citizens. Consequently, a tradition was established whereby audiences were able to experience musical theatre in their native language, which in turn generated a demand for new vernacular musical theatre works, both in Spain and in its colonies.
The first musical theatre piece in Spanish in the 19th century was produced at the Royal Conservatory in Madrid in 1832 and was followed by apparently infrequent performances of other new titles. Opera parodies in Spanish, later known as zarzuelas parodias (“parody zarzuelas”), made a brief appearance during the mid-19th century. Typical zarzuelas parodias mocked Italian operas that had been successful in Spain by appropriating the music but introducing a new plot that ridiculed the original story line. The zarzuelas parodias were important because they created a space for Spanish musical theatre to subvert the dominance of Italian opera on the lyric stages of Spain.
In 1851 Spanish musical theatre entered a new era, marked by two significant events. The first of these was the creation of the Sociedad Artistica del Teatro-Circo (“The Theatre-Circus Artistic Society”), a group mostly of composers and dramatists concerned with the development of national music. The second was the premiere of the first Spanish zarzuela in three acts, Jugar con fuego (1851; “Playing with Fire”), written by Sociedad Artística del Teatro-Circo member Francisco Asenjo Barbieri. It recounts the tale of a young widowed duchess who defies her father and the court in order to marry the man she loves. The new three-act format employed by Barbieri allowed for more complex and thorough musical and dramatic development; it also helped pave the way for the modern zarzuela. Jugar con fuego was the most frequently performed zarzuela in Spain during the 1850s. In 1856 the Teatro de la Zarzuela opened in Madrid and became the host of the Sociedad Artística del Teatro-Circo. The society subsequently sponsored many other productions, some of which eventually reached the Spanish colonies.
Like other European nations during the second half of the 19th century, Spain made a deliberate attempt to establish a national musical theatre form. Its model was Jugar con fuego, though its libretto and structure were still modeled after French and Italian opera and operetta. However, a shift had occurred by the 1870s, with the emergence of the teatro por horas (“one-hour theatre”). The short-length format allowed for more-focused stories and chamberlike pieces that, with few exceptions, differentiated the Spanish forms from its European contemporaries. In addition, the teatro por horas proved to be economically advantageous for entrepreneurial impresarios because its short duration permitted the presentation of several performances in a single day. The short form was also practical for the audiences, because it allowed them to enjoy a complete performance without having to spend the entire evening at the theatre. The teatro por horas pieces appealed particularly to the urban working class, who could see in most pieces their own experiences and the life of their city onstage. With the rise in popularity of the teatro por horas, the three-act zarzuelas, which became known as zarzuela grande, disappeared until the early decades of the 20th century, when they made a comeback. Meanwhile, the shorter one- and, occasionally, two-act zarzuelas—including the teatro por horas—were grouped under the term género chico (“little genre”) to differentiate them from their longer counterparts.
Among the most popular of the short-form zarzuelas produced during the late 19th century was Tomás Bretón’s one-act La verbena de la Paloma (1894; “The Festivities of Paloma”), which used stock characters to represent the diverse neighbourhoods of Madrid during the festivities in honour of the Virgin of Paloma, the patron saint of Paloma Street. Another favourite was Ruperto Chapí’s La revoltosa (1897; “The Agitator” or “The Mischievous Girl”), which presented the story of the tumultuous relationship between two characters, Mari Pepa and Felipe, whose blind jealous passions were mirrored by other residents of their neighbourhood.
During the first half of the 20th century, the three-act zarzuela grande regained its position as the most popular form of Spanish musical theatre, not only in Spain but also in various parts of the Hispanic world. Most-popular titles included Amadeo Vives’s Doña Francisquita (1923), a story of disguises and mistaken identities in the pursuit of love; Federico Moreno Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda (1932), a tale of a love triangle set during the Spanish Revolution of 1868; and Pablo Sorozábal’s La tabernera del puerto (1936; “The Barmaid at the Port”), a maritime love story that takes place in an imaginary port in northern Spain. Zarzuela also flourished in some of Spain’s former colonies, most notably Cuba and the Philippines. In Cuba the genre was infused with Afro-Cuban rhythms, and stories were largely derived from the Cuban colonial experience. Among the most-important titles in the Cuban zarzuela repertoire were Gonzalo Roig’s two-act Cecilia Valdés (1932) and Ernesto Lecuona’s one-act María la O (1930). In the Philippines, Tagalog-language sarswela (sarsuela) was intermittently popular through the 20th century, with notable surges in the 1950s, ’70s, and ’80s. As with zarzuelas elsewhere, these included local musical styles and themes. The sarswela best known in the Philippines is Hemogenes Ilang and Leon Ignacio’s Dalagang bukid (1917; “Country Maiden”).
Primarily because of changing political and economic life, waning nationalism, and the destruction of theatres and their communities during the Spanish Civil War, zarzuela gradually declined in popularity in Spain after the mid-20th century. Nevertheless, the form retained a modest place in the musical theatre repertoires of the Philippines and most of the Spanish-speaking world, including the Spanish-speaking diasporas, most notably in South Florida’s Cuban community, where Cuban zarzuelas were intermittently produced. Throughout these regions, the majority of works performed were older, but new and revised titles also were occasionally produced. In 2012, for instance, a new production of the Tagalog sarswela Walang sugat (1902; “Without Wounds,” libretto by Severino Reyes, music by Fulgencio Tolentino) was staged in Manila.