Marc Shaiman

Marc Shaiman (; born October 22, 1959) is an American composer and lyricist for films, television, and theatre, best known for his collaborations with lyricist and director Scott Wittman. He wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the John Waters film Hairspray. He has won a Grammy, an Emmy and a Tony, and been nominated for seven Oscars.
==Personal life==
Shaiman was born to a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Claire (née Goldfein) and William Robert Shaiman.Marc Shaiman Biography (1959-) filmreference.com He grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, but got his GED and left school at age 16 to start working in New York's theaters.Fowler, Linda. "N.J. native Marc Shaiman drops in on Paper Mill's production of his Broadway hit 'Hairspray'" , NJ.com, December 23, 2010. Accessed October 1, 2015. "Joking with fans during this fall production, Shaiman refers to his Scotch Plains hometown as exit 135.... Reluctant but supportive, his parents let him drop out of Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School at 16 — he later earned a GED — to work in Manhattan’s fringe theaters." He lives in both Los Angeles and Manhattan.
He is openly gay.Itzkoff, Dave. "For This Songwriter, the Political Is Musical" The New York Times, December 6, 2008 Shaiman married Lieutenant Commander Louis Mirabal on March 26, 2016."Hairspray Composer Marc Shaiman Ties The Knot" Playbill, March 26, 2016
==Career==
Shaiman started his career as a theatre/cabaret musical director. He started working at SNL as an arranger/writer and also became vocal arranger for Bette Midler, eventually becoming her musical director and co-producer of many of her recordings, including "The Wind Beneath My Wings" and "From a Distance." He helped create the material for her performance on the penultimate The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. His work with both Bette Midler and Billy Crystal led to his involvement on their films.
His film credits include Broadcast News, Beaches, When Harry Met Sally..., City Slickers, The Addams Family, Sister Act, Sleepless in Seattle, A Few Good Men, The American President, The First Wives Club, George of the Jungle, In & Out, Patch Adams, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Team America: World Police, Hairspray, Flipped, Mary Poppins Returns and HBO's From the Earth to the Moon and 61*. He frequently works on films by Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner. He also appeared in many of these films.
Shaiman has earned seven Academy Award nominations, a Tony Award and a Grammy Award for his work on the musical Hairspray, and an Emmy Award for co-writing Billy Crystal's Academy Award performances. He has also been Grammy-nominated for his arrangements for Harry Connick Jr.'s recordings When Harry Met Sally... and We Are in Love as well as Hairspray and Smash and Emmy-nominated for his work on Saturday Night Live and Smash. In 2002, he was honored with the "Outstanding Achievement in Music-In-Film" award at The Hollywood Film Festival, and in 2007 he was honored with ASCAP's Henry Mancini Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions to the music of film and television. He is the first recipient of the Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Comedy Feature Film.
On Saturday Night Live, Shaiman portrayed Skip St. Thomas, the accompanying pianist for The Sweeney Sisters, a singing duo played by Nora Dunn and Jan Hooks, which earned him an Emmy nomination. He began his professional relationships with Billy Crystal and Martin Short during his tenure at Saturday Night Live. He wrote and sang the song "Yes" for his agent's film Finding Kraftland. He co-wrote (with partner Scott Wittman) songs for Neil Patrick Harris when Harris hosted the 63rd Tony Awards (2009) and the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards (2009), and was Emmy-nominated for musical directing and co-writing the 82nd Academy Awards (2010).
Shaiman co-produced and co-wrote cuts on Mariah Carey's 2010 Christmas album Merry Christmas II You.
Shaiman & Wittman wrote original songs for the musical-based television show for NBC, Smash, and served as Executive Producers. For their song "Let Me Be Your Star," Shaiman and co-lyricist Wittman were nominated for both an Emmy Award and a Grammy Award, and as Executive Producers they were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical.
Shaiman co-wrote Billy Crystal's farewell to Jay Leno which featured Carol Burnett and Oprah Winfrey among others. He collaborated on the final performances for Johnny Carson's Tonight Show (with Bette Midler), Conan O'Brien's Late Night (with Nathan Lane), both of Jay Leno's final Tonight Show broadcasts, and Nathan Lane's farewell to David Letterman called "Dead Inside."
Shaiman & Wittman were honored on April 28, 2014, by The New York Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
Shaiman produced Bette Midler's CD It's the Girls, which had the highest debut of Midler's recording career on the Billboard Album charts.
Shaiman appeared on The Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, having co-created Martin Short and Maya Rudolph's salute to musical sketch characters.
Jennifer Hudson sang Shaiman & Wittman's Smash song "I Can't Let Go" at the 87th Academy Awards, which they revised to fit the In Memoriam section.
Shaiman & Wittman's latest Broadway musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ran on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, after finishing a four-year run on London's West End at The Royal Drury Lane Theater. Shaiman was Tony-nominated for his orchestrations for their previous Broadway musical Catch Me If You Can.
==Activism==
In 2008, a controversy erupted nationwide when California Musical Theatre's then artistic director resigned over the revelation of his personal donation of $1000 to a political campaign to support California proposition 8, which was an amendment to change the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. After the amendment was passed, donor information became public. Shaiman and other Broadway artists who had previously worked with the director became critical and called for a boycott of the theatre by all gay artists and performers, ending in the director's resignation days later.
To protest the passage of California Proposition 8 in November 2008, Shaiman wrote a satiric mini-musical called Prop 8 — The Musical. The 3-minute video was distributed on the internet at FunnyOrDie.com, beginning on December 3, 2008. It was written and produced in just a few days. The cast includes Jack Black (who plays Jesus), Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Allison Janney, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Margaret Cho, and Rashida Jones. Shaiman plays the piano and appears briefly in the video. It received 1.2 million internet hits in its first day.Itzkoff, Dave. "Marc Shaiman on 'Prop 8 — The Musical'", The New York Times, December 4, 2008"Star-studded Web video protests Prop 8 – Spoof musical's blockbuster cast includes Jack Black as Jesus", Associated Press, MSN.com, December 4, 2008
==Filmography==
===Film===
*Big Business (1988; songs only)
*Beaches (1988; Music Supervisor)
*When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
*Misery (1990)
*Scenes from a Mall (1991)
*City Slickers (1991)
*The Addams Family (1991)
*Hot Shots! (1991) (actor)
*For the Boys (1991; songs only)
*Sister Act (1992)
*Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
*A Few Good Men (1992)
*Sleepless in Seattle † (1993)
*Heart and Souls (1993)
*Life with Mikey (1993)
*Addams Family Values (1993)
*Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
*City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)
*North (1994)
*Speechless (1994)
*That's Entertainment! III (1994)
*Stuart Saves His Family (1995)
*Forget Paris (1995)
*The American President † (1995)
*Bogus (1996)
*Mother (1996/II)
*The First Wives Club † (1996)
*Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
*George of the Jungle (1997)
*Alvin and the Chipmunks: George of the Jungle (1997)
*In & Out (1997)
*My Giant (1998)
*Simon Birch (1998)
*Patch Adams † (1998)
*The Out-of-Towners (1999)
*South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut † (1999)
*The Story of Us (1999) with Eric Clapton
*The Kid (2000)
*Get Over It (2001; songs only)
*One Night at McCool's (2001)
*The Wedding Planner (2001)
*Down with Love (2003)
*Alex & Emma (2003)
*The Cat in the Hat (2003; songs only, score was rejected and replaced by David Newman)
*Tom and Jerry: The Cat in the Hat (2003; songs only, score was rejected and replaced by David Newman)
*Marci X (2003; songs only)
*Team America: World Police (2004; song only, score was rejected and replaced by Harry Gregson-Williams)
*Rumor Has It... (2005)
*Hairspray (2007)
*The Bucket List (2007)
*Bee Movie (2007; song in end credits only)
*Flipped (2010)
*The Magic of Belle Isle (2012)
*Parental Guidance (2012)
*And So It Goes (2014)
*LBJ (2016)
*Mary Poppins Returns † (2018)
† = Oscar nominee
* = Golden Globe nominee
===Television===
*Bette Midler - Mondo Beyondo (1982)
*Saturday Night Live (1984–1985)
*Saturday Night Live (1986–1987) †
*Comic Relief (1986)
*Billy Crystal: Don't Get Me Started (1986)
*Billy Crystal: Don't Get Me Started - The Lost Minutes (1988)
*I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood (1989)
*What's Alan Watching? (1989)
*Billy Crystal: Midnight Train To Moscow (1990)
*The 62nd Academy Awards (1990)
*The 63rd Academy Awards (1991) †
*The 64th Academy Awards (1992) †#
*The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson May 21, 1992 - Bette Midler final guest
*The 65th Academy Awards (1993)
*The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1993)
*The 69th Academy Awards (1997)
*Bette Midler in Concert: Diva Las Vegas (1997)
*The 70th Academy Awards (1998)
*Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1998)
*The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1997)
*From the Earth to the Moon part eleven (1998)
*Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary (1999)
*The 72nd Academy Awards (2000)
*South Park - "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" (1999)
*Get Bruce (1999)
*Jackie's Back (1999)
*Bette (2000)
*61* (2001)
*South Park episode - "Cripple Fight" (2001)
*Greg the Bunny (2002)
*Charlie Lawrence (2003)
*The Score with Phil Ramone (2003)
*The 57th Annual Tony Awards (2003)
*SJP Gap commercial - "I Enjoy Being A Girl" (2004)
*Biography - Bette Midler (2004)
*The 76th Academy Awards (2004) †
*The 77th Academy Awards (2005)
*Lovely SJP perfume commercial (2005)
*The 79th Academy Awards (2007)
*The 63rd Tony Awards (2009)
*The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards (2009)
*Late Night with Conan O'Brien (February 18, 2009)
*The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) † †
*The 84th Academy Awards (2012) †
*Smash season one (2012) † † *
*Smash season two (2013) †
*The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (February 6, 2014)
*Late Night with David Letterman (May 5, 2015)
*Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special (2015) †
*The 87th Academy Awards (2015)
*Hairspray Live! (2016)
† = Emmy nominee
†# = Emmy winner
* = Golden Globe nominee
===Theatre===
====Broadway====
*Peter Allen: Up in One (1979)
*Bette! Divine Madness (1980)
*André DeShields's Haarlem Nocturne (1984)
*Leader of the Pack (1985)
*An Evening with Harry Connick Jr. and Orchestra (1990)
*Patti LuPone on Broadway (1995)
*Hairspray †# (2002)
*The Odd Couple (2005)
*Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (2006)
*Catch Me If You Can † (2009)
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2017)
† = Tony nominee
†# = Tony winner
====West End====
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2013)
====Off-Broadway====
*Dementos - The Production Company
*Livin' Dolls - Manhattan Theatre Club
*Legends - Ahmanson Theatre
*Trilogy of Terror - Club 57
*Non Pasquale - Delacorte Theatre
===Internet===
*Prop 8 - The Musical (2008) (composer, lyricist, pianist) - 2009 "Webby" winner for Best Comedy: Short or Individual Episode
==Discography==
===Mariah Carey===
*Merry Christmas II You
===Bette Midler===
*Thighs and Whispers
*Mud Will Be Flung Tonight
*Some People's Lives
*Experience the Divine
*Bette
*Bathhouse Betty
*It's the Girls!
===Harry Connick, Jr.===
*We Are in Love † 
† = Grammy nominee
===Peter Allen===
*Making Every Moment Count
===Original Broadway cast recordings===
*Hairspray †# 
*Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
* Catch Me If You Can
* Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical (West End musical)
* Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical (Broadway musical)
† = Grammy nominee
†# = Grammy winner
===Soundtracks===
*The Addams Family
*The Addams Family Values
*Beaches
*When Harry Met Sally... † 
*For the Boys
*City Slickers 
*A Few Good Men
*Sister Act
*Sleepless in Seattle
*North
*The American President
*The Out-of-Towners
*South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
*Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics
*The Story of Us
*Alex & Emma
*Rumor Has It…
*Hairspray †
*The Bucket List
*Smash Season One †
*Smash Season Two †
*Bombshell
*Hairspray Live!
*The Star
† = Grammy nominee
==Concert/cabaret work==
*Peter Allen
*Jack Black & Will Ferrell
*Kristin Chenoweth
*Rosemary Clooney
*Harry Connick Jr.
*Billy Crystal
*Christine Ebersole
*Ellen Foley
*Whoopi Goldberg
*Annie Golden
*The Harlettes
*The High-Heeled Women
*Lauryn Hill
*Jennifer Holliday
*Allison Janney
*Laura Kenyon
*Nathan Lane
*Ute Lemper
*Jenifer Lewis
*Darlene Love
*Patti LuPone
*Lypsinka
*Ann Magnuson
*Andrea Martin
*Lonette McKee
*Bette Midler
*Catherine O'Hara
*Sarah Jessica Parker
*Zora Rasmussen
*Ann Reinking
*Debbie Shapiro Gravitte
*Martin Short
*Barbra Streisand
*Donald Trump
*Tracey Ullman
*Luther Vandross
*Bruce Vilanch
*Steven Webber
*Raquel Welch
*Robin Williams
==References==
==External links==
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*
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*The Marc Shaiman non-official site
*The Musical Mind of Marc Shaiman
*MusicalTalk Interview with Marc Shaiman
Category:1959 births
Category:American film score composers
Category:Male film score composers
Category:American musical theatre composers
Category:American musical theatre lyricists
Category:Gay musicians
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:Jewish American composers
Category:Jewish American songwriters
Category:LGBT composers
Category:LGBT musicians from the United States
Category:LGBT people from New Jersey
Category:LGBT songwriters
Category:Light music composers
Category:Living people
Category:Musicians from Newark, New Jersey
Category:People from Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Category:Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School alumni
Category:Songwriters from New Jersey
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