OUR LIFE IN INDUSTRIAL SHOW BUSINESS

WE WERE ONCE SPLASHING IN THE BATHTUB OVER BROADWAY POOL

Left with too much idle time and a mind trending toward the melancholy I've been trying to detain the approaching ennui by doing a checklist of my life's milestones. It's been like putting together a bucket list in reverse. I've been reminiscing and with each memory I've added a mental tick mark signifying, "I did that". First black eye from a bully, check "I did that". First girlfriend, and her name was Betty White, honestly, check, "I did that".. Finished my masters degree and went on to become an associate professor at of all places Kansas State University, check, "I did that". Went to a nude beach, more than once, check, "I did that". Kissed a boy and we all know how that went, check, "I did that". Moved to Hollywood looking for fame, check, "I did that". Moved to New York to find my destiny and the love of my life, check, "I did that" and in my list of life's ups and downs that's where my past lined up with my present a few days ago.

That part of my bucket list story was thrown back at me on an afternoon that began with Rick giggling and chortling from the bedroom while watching TV. It got to the point where I couldn't stand the mystery of what was poking his funny bone. I wandered back to where the laughter was rippling between waves of mirthful chirps to snorts of tearing hysterics.
"What are you watching?"
"You've got to see this. It's called Bathtubs Over Broadway"

Steve Young, once a writer on The David Letterman Show,  created and developed the documentary about his obsession with collecting vinyl recordings and footage of the elaborate musical numbers done for a limited audience of business sales forces on a one showing only basis.

This was our life for almost twenty years in the 80's and 90's. Rick job managed and I designed shows for Avon, McNeil Labs, The Italian Trade Commission, Wang Computers and a host of pharmaceutical, insurance and cosmetic companies. The work was demanding. All-nighters were a way of life but we traveled the world and the pay was more than pretty good.  The shows were either product introductions, annual sales meetings or incentive rewards for a company's top sales force. Many of the shows required charts and graphs, some used complicated screen moves requiring  dozens of projectors and video, while others were full blown musicals with original music and a professional cast of singers and dancers.

The money spent on these shows could veer into the millions. Steve Young points out that in 1956 the producers of the Broadway production of My Fair Lady spent $446,000 on the opening while Chevrolet spent three million dollars on their industrial that opened, ran and closed all in one night that same year.
Even if your company never took you to an annual meeting or you never won an incentive trip to Rome as your regions top salesperson, watching Bathtubs Over Broadway on Netflix or On Demand is time well spent. You know you've got the time and by now you should be running out of episodes of Tiger King and reruns of The Office. It's a good laugh and for Rick and me a real stroll down memory lane but by all means don't miss the ending. It's a production any Broadway show would be proud to call their own.