The song “My Bathroom” from 1969 never made it onto the Billboard charts. But that doesn’t mean this ode to the commode—with lyrics like “My bathroom, my bathroom, is my very special room, where I primp and fuss and groom”—isn’t worthy of deeper appreciation.
That’s the guiding spirit of Bathtubs Over Broadway, the documentary directed by Dava Whisenant that explores the “golden age” of industrial musicals when companies great and small commissioned Broadway-style shows to celebrate their products and motivate sales staff.
“That kind of heyday of corporate musicals was between the ’50s and mid-’80s. Huge companies like Ford, McDonald’s, to very small companies that made cafeteria steam tables, all these companies were doing musicals,” Whisenant tells Deadline. “These weren’t commercials, they weren’t jingles, they were a full-blown book musical…with a storyline, making that salesman and his team feel better about the work they were doing.
That’s the guiding spirit of Bathtubs Over Broadway, the documentary directed by Dava Whisenant that explores the “golden age” of industrial musicals when companies great and small commissioned Broadway-style shows to celebrate their products and motivate sales staff.
“That kind of heyday of corporate musicals was between the ’50s and mid-’80s. Huge companies like Ford, McDonald’s, to very small companies that made cafeteria steam tables, all these companies were doing musicals,” Whisenant tells Deadline. “These weren’t commercials, they weren’t jingles, they were a full-blown book musical…with a storyline, making that salesman and his team feel better about the work they were doing.
- 6/21/2019
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Anyone who loves musical theater owes it to themselves to see “Bathtubs Over Broadway,” a delightful deep-dive documentary into one man’s obsession with the obscure world of industrial musicals — corporate-sponsored song-and-dance revues from the golden age of American capitalism. Think of it as “big-brand music,” commissioned for company retreats where they would be performed just once and then forgotten. Well, almost forgotten, since a handful of collectors have developed a kind of ironic affection for these loony tunes, which makes for an outrageous but never-less-than-reverent tour down the back alleys of Broadway.
Turns out a clever cleffer (vintage Variety slanguage for a professional songwriter) can fashion a witty ditty about pretty much anything, from the profitability of Purina Dog Chow to the joys of Surg-o-Pak sterile hospital sheets. Don’t believe me? Witness “It’ll Change Your Life,” one of two original musical numbers Steve Young — a comedy writer...
Turns out a clever cleffer (vintage Variety slanguage for a professional songwriter) can fashion a witty ditty about pretty much anything, from the profitability of Purina Dog Chow to the joys of Surg-o-Pak sterile hospital sheets. Don’t believe me? Witness “It’ll Change Your Life,” one of two original musical numbers Steve Young — a comedy writer...
- 11/30/2018
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
If Dava Whisenant’s joyous documentary “Bathtubs Over Broadway” served only to spotlight the occluded corner of American musical history known as the “industrial musical,” it would be perfectly entertaining in its own right. But in its portrayal of one man’s unusual journey, the film has much to say about turning ironic amusement into unalloyed appreciation.
And if you don’t know what an “industrial musical” is, relax — we were never meant to see them in the first place. Starting in the 1950s, these shows were crafted to entertain and inspire the sales reps from companies like Xerox and General Electric. Expensive and elaborate, they were often performed only a few times, at conventions or sales meetings, and they mostly exist now on souvenir soundtrack recordings (of shows with names like “Diesel Dazzle” or “The Bathrooms Are Coming!”) that weren’t intended to be shared with the general public.
And if you don’t know what an “industrial musical” is, relax — we were never meant to see them in the first place. Starting in the 1950s, these shows were crafted to entertain and inspire the sales reps from companies like Xerox and General Electric. Expensive and elaborate, they were often performed only a few times, at conventions or sales meetings, and they mostly exist now on souvenir soundtrack recordings (of shows with names like “Diesel Dazzle” or “The Bathrooms Are Coming!”) that weren’t intended to be shared with the general public.
- 11/29/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
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