McCallum’s INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH BROADWAY is quirky and fun

by Stan Jenson

I feel like I witnessed the birth of a truly great show on February 8th at The McCallum Theatre and I hope that thousands of people are able to enjoy it in the future. It was called Industrial Strength Broadway.

Apparently from the 1950’s to the 1980’s, it was a common practice for large corporations to have spectacular Broadway-style shows written and produced for them which were presented at their national sales meetings.  Actual Broadway stars such as Martin Short, the late Chita Rivera and Susan Stroman were hired to present elaborate song-and-dance revues written by such folks as Kander and Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret), Bock and Harnick (Fiddler, She Loves Me) and even Stephen Sondheim before he became the King of Broadway. 

The shows were written to glorify products large and small. One staggering figure mentioned in the show that lingered with me is that the same year My Fair Lady opened on Broadway at a cumulative cost of $485,000, Chevrolet spent $3 million on its sales meetings!  And how could you resist titles such as The Bathrooms are Coming, Got to Investigate Silicones, and Diesel Dazzle?

A man named Steve Young, a comedy writer for David Letterman, was given an assignment in the mid 90’s to find the most offbeat records he could for presentation on The Late Show.  In his search, he found a couple of LP records of these corporate shows (all inscribed “Do Not Sell – For Private Use Only”.)  It seems that the corporations would give souvenir albums of the shows they produced to the salespeople so they could linger over such ballads as “My Bathroom,” dreamily sung into a bathroom mirror by a lovely redhead.  Many film clips of these shows were assembled for an award-winning 2018 documentary called Bathtubs Over Broadway, directed by Dava Whisenant.  Steve Young was the main subject of the movie and it was a hit with the worldwide festival circuit.

Since then, Young has traveled the country with a solo show of film and audio clips, but the CEO of The McCallum, Mitch Gershenfeld, asked the question “What if the audiences wanted more?”  A plan was hatched to produce an actual musical which would present some of the songs as they were experienced by the original corporate audiences.  Seasoned musical producer Wayne Bryan, now a resident of Palm Desert, was enlisted to direct and associate-produce the project. Working closely with Steve Young and Stuart Ross (“Forever Plaid”) who co-wrote the script, they created Industrial Strength Broadway. 

The program was hosted by Young who, as a performer, appears so casual that you could believe he was chatting just to you.  But what made the program so very exciting was an ensemble of six singer/dancers who presented the silliest songs imaginable with all the energy and sincerity of The Young Americans or the theme park shows that used to be presented at Six Flags parks. They were Kim Huber, Kevin McMahon, Jenne Carey, Kellen Green, Lizzie Schmelling, and Patrick Wallace.  If some of those names sound familiar, most of these same people have appeared in local theatres such as Desert Theatreworks, Palm Canyon Theatre, and Desert Theatricals.

Coachella Valley audiences have generally lowered their expectations for local musicals, especially in the dance department, but somehow these same performers were whipped into shape to challenge any of the touring musicals that visit the McCallum.  They were onstage singing and dancing and charming the audience for the majority of the 90-minute show, only leaving the stage to change costumes.  Musical Direction and Onstage Pianist was Joel Baker and the amazingly energetic dancing was choreographed by Jose De La Cuesta.

A large screen upstage projected a few scenes from actual shows, but this production brings to live theatre what Bathtubs Over Broadway did on the screen. The combination of an exciting live performance combined with a few film clips made for a terrific evening.  Steve Young was the perfect host.  A time or two on the shadowy edges of the stage, I saw him glance at a script resting on a music stand and it gave me even more admiration for him.  I realized that though he appeared so genuine and chatty, he was actually presenting a scripted show and he was terrific at it. By the way, he also accompanied himself on a guitar as he sang one of the songs and he was very credible in that department as well.

But now what happens to this show?  It’s just too damned good to be put away as a pleasant memory, enjoyed by the 800 people who saw its one scheduled performance.  I had such a good time (had you already guessed that?) that I was already outlining a national tour.  The McCallum is a leader in booking touring acts.  It would be a perfect idea if they produced a national tour, playing similar theatres.

Photo credit: Wayne Bryan