92NY to Present Marc Shaiman in Conversation with Nathan Lane
J. Harrison Ghee and Jessica Vosk will each join Marc for a special performance following the conversation.
The 92nd Street Y, New York will present award-winning composer and co-lyricist Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, Sister Act, Smash and many others) in conversation with fellow Tony Award winner and longtime friend Nathan Lane for an evening of backstage stories from his life on Broadway, in Hollywood and on television.
Tony Award winner J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot) and Broadway star Jessica Vosk (upcoming Broadway production of Beaches) will each join Marc for a special performance following the conversation. The event launches the publication of Shaiman’s new memoir, Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner, and is in person on Sunday, January 25. Tickets – which include a copy of Never Mind the Happy – are available here and Shaiman will sign books following the talk.
In Never Mind the Happy, musical dynamo Shaiman looks back on five decades of Broadway triumphs, Hollywood hijinks, and unforgettable collaborations. Along the way, he charts the personal highs and heartbreaks that have shaped him—spending his teenage years in community theatre, starting a decades-long collaboration with Bette Midler in the '70s, surviving the AIDS crisis of the '80s, his award-winning film music career in the Hollywood of the '90s, right up to the peaks (and valleys) of creating Broadway musicals from 2000 on.
Shaiman said, “Never mind the happy,” my mother always says, but how could I not be happy about nearly 50 years in show business, where I have been blessed with startling successes (and yes, a few dire disappointments). So I figured it was time to write my memoir before I completely forget what I’ve done – or worse, before everyone else forgets! Whether movies, television, or on Broadway, I guess my longevity actually proves that…You can’t stop the beat!”
Candid, hilarious, and deeply human, Shaiman's story is a tribute to the power of music, the pull of the spotlight, and the beat that never stops. Part showbiz tell-all, part love letter to the melancholy that fuels creativity, Never Mind the Happy is told with perfect comic timing—along with a few wrong notes, and plenty of standing ovations.
