How Framing Devices Shape Your Perspective in Musical Theatre

Writing musical theatre is incredibly fun, and we have to start somewhere! Just like with a painting, or an essay, we're going to start with the general shape, goal, outline, and build up from there. Framing devices are a great tool that you'll find in more shows than not, and for good reason: literary techniques so tried and true are a fantastic means to shape the audience's perception of a story. Here, we're going to talk about a number of my favorite musicals and how they effectively use framing devices, with a particular focus on the use of a narrator.
PATREON: / cashcomposer
Video credits:
Sunday in the Park with George:
PBS Proshot, 1986 production
San Francisco Playhouse, 2018 production
Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, 2012 production
Live Kelly and Mark, 2017 interview
Broadway Revival BTS, 2017 production
The Drowsy Chaperone:
Original Broadway Cast, 2006
NETworks Presentations Touring Production, 2009
Tony Awards, 2006
Phantom of the Opera:
The Show Must Go On, 2011
Movie, 2004
Andrew Lloyd Webber Unmasked: The Platinum Collection, 2017
Rocky Horror Show:
Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975
Saturday Night Live, 1981
West End Production, 2015
Broadway Revival, 2000
Rocky Horror Tribute Show, 2006
Company:
NY Phil Concert, 2021
Original Broadway cast, 1970
Guildhall School Masterclass
Broadway Revival, 2006
Broadway Revival, 2022
Tony Awards, 2022
Olivier Awards
Tiny Desk Concerts, 2022
Into the Woods:
Broadway Revival, 2022
Movie, 2017
Original Broadway Cast, 1987
Tony Awards, 2023
Sherlock Holmes:
CBS Elementary
Hound of the Baskervilles (Basil Rathbone), 1939
A Study in Scarlet (Peter Cushing), 1968
The Great Mouse Detective
Sherlock Holmes (RDJ), 2009
The Princess Bride, 1987
A Christmas Story, 1983
0:00 Intro
1:19 Examples of Framing Devices in Shows
1:47 Sunday in the Park with George
3:12 The Drowsy Chaperone
4:39 The Phantom of the Opera
7:08 The Rocky Horror Show
7:57 Company
9:08 Into the Woods
10:15 Fantasmagoriana (aka shameless self promo)
11:50 A Focus on Narrators
14:39 4 Concerns with My Show, and how they're solved by a narrator
19:47 Outro
#musical #theatre #writing