Marc Shaiman - Addams family member

Having scored the deliciously evil music for the Addams Family movies, Shaiman is a honorary member of that family. You might say that Shaiman is very accomplished when it comes to fun parody, and the Addams Family movies were just one example of this talent. The other examples include the "City Slickers" movies where he uses the instantly recognisables styles from the heyday of the great western movie with touches of jazz, soul and bluegrass, and "George of the Jungle" which is deliciously over-the-top allowing a wide range of fun styles to be displayed. The "South Park" movie also displays this talent for parody in various throwaway gags taking the Mickey out of different filmic moments and ideas.

Although these films have allowed his creativity some freedom, he has also scored more conventional films too. He has received Oscar nominations for "The American President", "The First Wives Club", "Patch Adams", and jointly with Trey Parker for the Song "Blame Canada" from the South Park movie. More recently Shaiman was Musical Director for the 76th Academy Awards ceremony, and helped to create a broadway version of the film musical "Hairspray".

Films by Marc Shaiman:

• The Addams Family - surreal waltzes and other comedy horror elements, plus Vic Mizzy's original theme
• Addams Family Values - more from the surreal music world
• The First Wives Club
• City Slickers 1 and 2 (The Legend of Curly's Gold) - fun pastiche of the western style
• The First Wives Club
• The American President - a musical balance of elegant American Pomp with a heart of delicate romance, and the Rogers and Hammerstein "I Have Dreamed" played at a state dance
• Simon Birch - mostly Motown songs with little soundtrack between them
• A Few Good Men - mostly quiet, thoughtful and unobtrusive for this powerful drama
• Patch Adams
• South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut - helping out Trey Parker on the songs, and providing underscore in various pastiche styles
• George of the Jungle
• The Cat in the Hat
- the original songs, the score being by David Newman
• Down with Love - a jazz score to fit around some jazz songs, with Shaiman himself writing the Title Song sung by the leads Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor

TV music by Marc Shaiman:

• From the Earth to the Moon - part 11 of this documentary mini-series about the Apollo missions with Michael Kamen providing the main title theme

Recommendations:

The theme from The Addams Family is available as sheet music arranged for piano, and can be heard on some cult theme CD collections. A number of soundtracks are also available, including "The American President". Also check out these soundtracks:

• Addams Family Values - from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
• Hairspray (Broadway version) - from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com