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, and of course this experience stood Shaiman in good stead when it later came to "Team America: World Police" by the same people.
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 (and possibly as a result of this Shaiman made a "guest appearance" in the South Park series). Shaiman started out in theatre work with artists such as Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, so it is not surprising that he returns to that genre from time to time most noteably with the Broadway version of the film musical "Hairspray". Shaiman has previously acted as Musical Director for the Academy Awards ceremony (and several other awards including the Grammys and the Emmys), and he performed that role again in 2010 for the 82nd Academy Awards.
Shaiman wrote the music for a new musical version of "Catch Me If You Can". The story is based on the 2002 film which was expertly scored by John Williams. Shaiman's musical version hit Broadway in 2011 and here is the commercial advertising the musical as posted on www.Broadway.com. Then in 2013 Shaiman launched his new musical version of Roald Dahl's story "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in London's West End. The new musical is at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane and has its own website with further details about the show and its cast, and it also has facilities for online booking of tickets - see www.charlieandthechocolatefactory.com. While on a roll with stage musicals Shaiman has now returned to the film musical genre with Mary Poppins Returns, writing the music score and songs, and the lyrics with Scott Wittman.
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:
Here are some CD covers signed by Marc Shaiman. Our thanks to Petr Kocanda for permission to use his collection of autographed CDs. Click any thumbnail below to see the image full size in a separate window.
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