Savoy opera was a style of
comic opera that developed in
Victorian England in the late 19th century, with
W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the
Savoy Theatre, which impresario
Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house the
Gilbert and Sullivan pieces, and later, those by other composer–librettist teams. The great bulk of the non-G&S Savoy Operas either failed to achieve a foothold in the standard repertory, or have faded over the years, leaving the term "Savoy Opera" as practically synonymous with Gilbert and Sullivan. The Savoy operas (in both senses) were seminal influences on the creation of the modern
musical.