Brad Frenette joined WashU’s Performing Arts Department as a Lecturer in Musical Theatre in 2026. His teaching and scholarship explore musical theatre as both an artistic practice and a liberal arts discipline, with particular interests in adaptation, dramaturgy, pedagogy, and performance.
Brad is especially interested in broadening access to musical theatre across the liberal arts, encouraging performers and non-performers alike to engage with the field as a collaborative, historical, and cultural practice.
Before joining WashU, Frenette taught at Denison University, where he directed Musical Theatre Workshop, founded the Broadway at Denison series, and developed courses in musical theatre history, theory, and performance. He received the ATHE/KCACTF Innovative Teaching Award and the Helen Devitt Jones Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award for his work in higher education.
An Actors' Equity member, Frenette has performed on national and European tours and at regional theatres including Paper Mill Playhouse, Goodspeed Opera House, Stages St. Louis, and Pennsylvania Centre Stage.
His research focuses on musical theatre history, adaptation, and historiography. His first book, Film-to-Stage Musicals: Sweet Charity to Back to the Future, will be published by Methuen Drama in early 2027 as part of The Essential Musicals Series.
Frenette earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Fine Arts in Performance Pedagogy from Texas Tech University.