Album cover for The Bathrooms are Coming!, a 1969 American-Standard musical (Blast Books)
I heard a great Studio360 show today. It was on the industrial musicals once used by corporations to get the sales team charged up to go out and sell.
“In the 1950, 60s, and 70s, a subgenre of musical theater entertained thousands. It had showstoppers composed by some of the brightest talent in the business. But instead of selling out Broadway houses, these shows played to packed hotel ballrooms and convention halls. …
“ ‘It was to build morale and build a sense of being on a team,’ explains Steve Young. ‘You weren’t isolated, you were a part of a greater whole that was looking out for you.’ A writer for David Letterman, Young has made himself the curator of the world’s largest collection of corporate musical theater performances. ‘Sales Training,’ a groovy number from 1972, includes specs for York air conditioner’s new line. ‘Once in a Lifetime’ breathlessly heralds the arrival of the 1958 Ford Edsel.
“Writing these musicals was no simple task and corporations spent lavishly to attract top talent. In 1966, John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote Go Fly a Kite for General Electric (in which Benjamin Franklin meets modern utility executives) — they went on to win a Tony for Cabaret. …
“Steve Young is co-author of the book Everything’s Coming Up Profits.”
If you like musicals, you really must listen to the whole Studio360 show. It’s too funny.
You don’t want to miss “PDM (Power Distribution Management) Can Do”
from Go Fly a Kite — General Electric, 1966, by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Walter Marks, or “An Exxon Dealer’s Wife.” Be sure to catch the song composed to sell Edsels and the haunting American-Standard number “My Bathroom” from 1969. (“My bathroom, my bathroom is a private kind of place.”)
Studio360’s show,”Curtain Call: Industrial Strength Musicals,” may be found here.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
I knew of Industrial Films (because of actor friends in Minneapolis who got the majority of their yearly salary working in them), but I had not heard of industrial musicals. What fun!
Something extremely unusual is a movie we saw last night, “Cold Fever.” I recommend it but it’s hard to find. It’s about a young career-oreinted Japanese man who gets persuaded to go to Iceland in winter to do a ceremony for his parents who died in a remote and inaccessible location. Everything that happens is inexplicable, but the overall effect is charming. And you get to see a lot of Iceland.
I’ll look for it. Totally off topic, we recently saw Mao’s Last Dancer (we’re always years behind the recent releases). I know you like dance and we thought it was beautiful. Have you seen it?
I will put it on Netflix. Thanks for the lead. We liked your suggested movie — Estonia’s Singing Revolution.
My husband’s company used a film maker years ago to make funny motivational films for sales conventions.
I want to be a film maker. So many ambitions, so little time….
Good for you not to give up on ambitions.
When I was little and worked in NYC — modeling, making commercials, doing voice-overs, making a few TV movies, and even being the standby in a Broadway musical — I heard about “industrials” from the chorus men and women for whom I used to fetch cups of coffee from the shop across the street. I look forward to listening to this episode of Studio 360 and learning more. It’s great to be reminded that musical theater was once held in such esteem that corporate America would invest in these original productions to inspire and entertain their employees.
A new generation of child stars and children who perform in school musicals and community theater may yet bring back the concept, although I imagine the “industrial” musicals of the future may look a little different.
Will, I am putting you in the drawing for the $100 gift certificate at Luna & Stella. Your mom might like a gift, and there are very nice cufflinks for men.