UCLA professor puts limelight on operetta
Operetta, the long-neglected cousin of opera and musical theater, is finally getting some much-deserved recognition thanks to operetta expert Dr. Michael D. Miller, a professor of advanced mathematics at UCLA Extension.
On Dec. 18-19, Miller’s Operetta Archives will present its second annual musical tribute to the long-forgotten genre of operetta titled “Delights of Early Broadway: A Musical and Theatrical Tribute to Victor Herbert, Rudolf Friml, Jerome Kern and Sigmund Romberg” at Schoenberg Hall.
Operetta (literally “little opera”) spun off from opera in the mid-1800s in Paris and was created by Jacques Offenbach, a talented composer of the time. It is a light opera with spoken dialogue, songs and dances, and its themes are less profound or serious than those of opera.
Originally created as an opera for the working class, the operetta form flourished in Europe and the United States during the second half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century.
“Operetta is about the music,” Miller said. “The story is silly, entertaining but not much better than a television soap opera.”
Miller has devoted nearly all of his free time to the revival of this often-forgotten genre. He first became interested in operetta during high school and his undergraduate years at UCLA over 35 years ago.
Since then, Miller has become one of the top three operetta experts in the world and owns the largest operetta archive library in the country at his home in Culver City, titled Operetta Archives.
The library began as a personal collection, then grew so large that he now provides material for operetta producers and publishers, radio stations and major collectors around the world. It consists of thousands of books, recordings, posters, sheet music and anything else that may relate to operetta.
Besides owning such an extensive library, Dr. Miller is also part of an operetta organization in Los Angeles titled Friends of Operetta.
“It’s like a support group for people that enjoy operetta,” he said. “It started over 10 years ago and we meet quarterly with about 50 to 100 people each meeting and discuss topics related to operetta.”
Dr. Miller’s top two reasons for liking operetta are the catchy music and its ability to provide him with an escape from reality.
“Operetta tunes became pop hits in the early 1910s and 1920s. People would go out and buy sheet music to play on their piano at home after they went to see an operetta,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to be in an ideal world for a little while.”
Although it may seem odd that an operetta expert doubles as a math professor, Miller says that he has always loved math and knew that was the profession he wanted to pursue.
And when people ask him about his contrasting hobbies, he usually has a harder time explaining his liking for operetta than for his profession due to the fact that not a lot of people know what operetta is.
But last year’s performance “Play Gypsies! Dance Gypsies!: A Musical Tribute to Emmerich Kalman” turned out to be a success. Miller hopes this year’s attendance is even better than before.
“Operetta is struggling to survive now and I’m hoping to revive it by producing such big productions,” he said.
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