VIDEO: On This Day, October 22- Happy Birthday, Marc Shaiman!

By: Oct. 22, 2019
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On this day we celebrate legendary composer of stage and screen, the great Marc Shaiman!

MARC SHAIMAN, award-winning composer, lyricist, orchestrator and musician, has successfully created music for TV, film and theater since entering show business at the age of 16 in 1976.

Recently, Marc co-wrote the songs and composed the score for director Rob Marshall and Disney's "Mary Poppins Returns", the film sequel to the classic film "Mary Poppins". For his work on the film, Marc was nominated for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award and garnered his sixth and seventh Oscar nominations; one for Best Original score, and one - along with his co-lyricist and longtime collaborator Scott Wittman - for Best Original song, "The Place Where Lost Things Go".

He is currently co-writing the score for a new musical version of "Some Like It Hot" coming to Broadway in 2020, as well as co-writing songs for a Marc Platt/Steven Spielberg produced Universal Pictures movie musical entitled "Industrials".

Marc has been Oscar nominated seven times (for "Mary Poppins Returns", "Sleepless In Seattle", "Patch Adams", "The First Wives Club", The American President" and "South Park-Bigger, Longer & Uncut"). He has received two Tony Award nominations (winning one for co-writing the score to "Hairspray" with co-lyricist Scott Wittman), four Grammy Awards, (winning one for The Original Cast Recording of "Hairspray"), eleven Emmy Awards (winning one for his work on Billy Crystal's Academy Award hosting) four Golden Globe nominations ("Saturday Night Live", "Smash", "The Star" (song co-written with Mariah Carey) and "Mary Poppins Returns", and two BAFTA nominations ("Sleepless In Seattle" and "Mary Poppins Returns").

Shaiman's other film work includes "Beaches", "When Harry Met Sally", Misery", "City Slickers", "The Addams Family", "Addams Family Values", "A Few Good Men", "Sister Act" (1 & 2), "George of the Jungle", "In and Out", "Hocus Pocus", "The Bucket List" and "Parental Guidance". He served as an Executive Producer of the successful film adaptation of his Broadway musical "Hairspray".

His other original Broadway & West End musical credits in addition to "Hairspray" (Olivier Award winner), are the Tony-nominated "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me", the Tony-winning "Catch Me If You Can" and "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" (currently on tour across America and in Australia). Broadway concert credits are "Peter Allen-Up In One", Bette Midler's "Divine Madness", Ellie Greenwich's "Leader Of The Pack" and "Patti LuPone On Broadway". After a tremendously successful concert for The Actor's Fund, his musical "Bombshell", created as part of the television show "Smash," is now being developed into a Broadway show.

Shaiman has co-produced and arranged Grammy winning recordings for music icons such as Bette Midler, Harry Connick Jr. and Mariah Carey, including the Grammy-winning recordings "The Wind Beneath My Wings" and "From A Distance."

His television ventures include "The Sweeney Sisters" on SNL, countless award and talk show appearances with Billy Crystal, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Lane, Martin Short, Jenifer Lewis' "Jackie's Back", the Emmy-winning "SNL 40th", the aforementioned "Smash", and his proudest achievement for television, his collaboration with Bette Midler for her Emmy-winning appearance as his final guest on Johnny Carson's penultimate Tonight Show.

Other performers with whom he has collaborated in concert, cabaret, film and television include Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Kristen Chenoweth, Eric Clapton. Christine Ebersole Kathy Griffin, Allison Janney, Jennifer Holiday, Jennifer Hudson, Diane Keaton, Steve Martin, John Mayer, Audra McDonald, Barbra Streisand, Queen Latifah and Robin Williams. At the legendary after-party for "SNL 40th," he jammed with Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney and Prince and completely lost his shit.

He is quite fond of "Prop 8 - The Musical", the online opus he wrote for the website Funny or Die.

In 2014 Shaiman & Wittman were celebrated by the New York Pops with a spectacular concert at Carnegie Hall. Marc was recently honored with the Ambassador Award by the Society of Composers and Lyricists in December 2018, and with the Icon Award at the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards in February 2019.

Shaiman is married to retired Navy Lieutenant Commander, Louis Mirabal, and currently resides in New York City and upstate New York.



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