A01=Marc Shaiman
AIDS
AIDS crisis
artist memoir
Author_Marc Shaiman
Broadway
Broadway musicals
Category=AVLM
Category=AVN
Category=DNBF1
Category=DNC
Celebrities
celebrity memoir
composer memoir
composing
cultural Judaism
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
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eq_music
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eq_nobargain
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film music
gay marriage
HIV
lyricist
movie scores
movie soundtracks
musical theater
musicals
musician memoir
same-sex marriage
songwriter memoir
songwriters
songwriting
theater memoir
Product details
- ISBN 9798895652244
- Weight: 376g
- Dimensions: 140 x 210mm
- Publication Date: 26 Mar 2026
- Publisher: Post Hill Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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The New York Times Bestseller
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.
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.
