Marc Shaiman — Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner - with Murray Horwitz

From the award-winning composer/co-lyricist behind such iconic projects as Hairspray, Sister Act, Mary Poppins Returns, and Smash comes a wickedly funny, no-holds-barred memoir.In Never Mind the Happy, musical dynamo Marc 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 theater, 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.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, told with perfect comic timing—along with a few wrong notes, and plenty of standing ovations.Marc Shaiman is a renowned American composer, lyricist, arranger, and music producer known for his work across film, television, and theater. Shaiman began his career as a musical director and arranger for Bette Midler before expanding into film scoring. He gained prominence with his work on films such as When Harry Met Sally, The Addams Family, Sister Act, City Slickers, A Few Good Men, Sleepless in Seattle, The American President, and South Park, on television with SNL, and on his recordings with Harry Connick Jr. and Mariah Carey. Shaiman earned widespread acclaim for co-writing the Broadway musical Hairspray alongside his longtime co-lyricist Scott Wittman. The duo has also co-created the musicals Catch Me If You Can, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Some Like It Hot, and Smash. He has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards and has won a Tony, two Emmys, and two Grammys. Marc Shaiman is celebrated for his versatile, emotionally resonant music and his ability to blend classic musical theater sensibilities with modern storytelling. Born and raised in New Jersey, he currently lives in New York with his husband, Lieutenant Commander (ret) Lou Mirabal.Shaiman is in conversation with Murray Horwitz, a Tony Award-winning playwright, lyricist, and broadcaster. Called “my first mentor” by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, his accomplishments include co-authoring the hit Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin’, writing popular song lyrics for John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby at the Metropolitan Opera, originating the NPR comedy quiz, Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me, and co-creating the Mark Twain Prize In American Humor at the Kennedy Center.  He collaborated with Marc Shaiman on the 1984 musical, Haarlem Nocturne, starring André De Shields, off and on Broadway.  As an NPR broadcaster, he received three Peabody Awards, and the Order of Arts and Letters from the government of France.  Currently the host and co-producer of WAMU’s Sunday night vintage radio program, The Big Broadcast, Horwitz began his career as a Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus clown.  PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9798895652244?ic_referral=53IVyReKYd3C_phtSiTXludJEDT9xF2_CSieo46IG5AwM76r8mSVfOsSOI5Hp9m_WOKeKeqtdesON3AGy1y30dG1s9I3OKOggFtCoD8Tl-F5UtC5hq5Je6CVP7yDfyZZgIRuzCQ