Stage Setter

The keen Attic imagination will take the place of the thousand arts of the later stage-setter. ❋ William Stearns Davis (1903)

That was the case with "Comedy Tonight," the classic opening stage-setter for the marvelously entertaining "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" on the Spokane Civic Theatre's Main Stage. ❋ Unknown (2009)

But I'm more convinced than ever that a direct attack on the money / influence nexus based on campaign contributions, and on the self-perpetuation of the status quo in Washington through political gerrymandering, is an essential stage-setter if the next administration is going to accomplish the radical change the times call for. ❋ Progressive Policy Institutes Senior F Ed Kilgore (2008)

Last Saturday, the island’s two main camps split elections that were widely seen as a stage-setter for the key 2008 presidential vote. ❋ Unknown (2007)

Based on my reading of a draft and the March quarterly report, it's more of a stage-setter and a jumping-off point that may or may not lead to a reversal in the trend. ❋ Unknown (2011)

[Jeremiah] drinks a Stage Setter of [cream soda] before taking a shot of [Skrewball] Peanut Butter Whiskey. He then chases it with the rest of his cream soda. ❋ RyuOmega33 (2023)