Musicals are movies, tv shows, or stage performances that tell a story using music, song, and dance. Sometimes the songs narrate the whole plot, like in Hamilton or Come From Away, where the whole show is made up of songs. Other examples such as Dear Evan Hansen, use songs to tell the story, but not as the primary communicator. A charter will break out into a song during a scene, but there is still a scene to illustrate what is happening. Lastly, most commonly seen in tv shows, some musicals can use songs as the actors perform them. Examples include Glee, High School Musical the Musical Series, and Julie and the Phantoms.
Musicals are usually formalist pieces, as they focus on the creative, illustrative parts of the production, always wanting to keep an aesthetic. It is obvious that musicals are not realistic because breaking out into song and dance is not a part of everyday life for the average person. Production teams focus a lot on the Mise-en-scene aspects of the pieces, paying close attention to set design, costume design, color pallets etc. Costumes are extremely thought out, for historical pieces they are well-researched to match the time period, even if the show has a modern twist. An example of this is Six the Musical, although this show modernizes King Henry's wives, their costumes still uniquely represent the time periods they come from through the corsets, boots, large shoulders, materials, etc.
For stage production musicals, marketing often revolves around showing BTS photos, and videos, actors getting ready, dress rehearsals, etc. Many production companies will have an actor do an "Instagram takeover" where they will vlog on the show's Instagram page for a day. Although this can be applied to televised musicals, it usually is not. Movie and show musicals usually use similar marketing techniques to other movies and shows, such as trailers and social media advertisements. One unique thing about musicals is their target audience. Most people either love or hate musicals, and those who hate them are not easily convinced to try watching. Trailers might focus more on the non-musical parts of the show to try and expand their horizons. However, the main target audience does not need any convincing. Those who like and love musicals will always watch and be up to date with things coming out. Through this community, word of mouth is a superspreader and the best way to advertise musicals.
Set design of Dear Evan Hansen.
