Hairspray

Marc Shaiman (Music & Lyrics/Arrangements)

Marc Shaiman is one of the preeminent composer/lyricists, arrangers, musical directors, and music producers in the entertainment industry. He has worked on or appeared in over 50 films and has been nominated for five Academy Awards—for The First Wives Club, Sleepless in Seattle, Patch Adams, The American President, and the highly acclaimed animated musical, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. He began his career as vocal arranger for Bette Midler, eventually becoming her musical director and co-producer, bringing her songs like the Grammy-winning ƒº±“Wind Beneath My Wings” and “From A Distance.” His work with Ms. Midler on her Emmy Award-winning performance for the final Tonight Show with Johnny Carson is a highlight of their collaboration.

Mr. Shaiman's other film credits include A Few Good Men, Sister Act, City Slickers, The Addams Family, Misery, When Harry Met Sally, Beaches, Mother, George of the Jungle, In & Out, The Story of Us (with Eric Clapton) and the upcoming Marci X. For television, Mr. Shaiman has worked on HBO’s From the Earth to the Moon and 61* and received an Emmy Award for writing (Billy Crystal's opening number) for “The Academy Awards” as well as a nomination for Saturday Night Live. He has appeared as a guest on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Mr. Shaiman has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for his work with Harry Connick, Jr., and has been awarded numerous gold and platinum records. He wrote music (and often co-wrote the lyrics) for the off-Broadway musicals Livin' Dolls, Dementos, Trilogy of Terror, and The G-String Murders, and he has written arrangements and/or compositions for Leader of the Pack, The Tap Dance Kid, Andre DeShields’ Haarlem Nocturne, and Legends (with Mary Martin & Carol Channing). In addition to his work with Ms. Midler and Mr. Connick, Mr. Shaiman has served as musical director and/or producer and/or arranger with a variety of other performers including Peter Allen, Rosemary Clooney, The Harlettes, Lauryn Hill, Jennifer Holliday, Nathan Lane, Darlene Love, Patti LuPone, Andrea Martin, Lonette McKee, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Barbra Streisand, Luther Vandross, and Raquel Welch.

Scott Wittman (Lyrics)

Scott Wittman conceived and directed Patti LuPone’s triumphant Carnegie Hall debut as well as her hit solo shows, Matters of the Heart, which enjoyed acclaimed runs on Broadway and at London’s Donmar Warehouse, and Patti LuPone on Broadway (Outer Critic’s Circle Award). Mr. Wittman co-wrote the musicals The G-String Murders, Trilogy of Terror, and Livin’ Dolls and directed the West coast premiere of the musical Eating Raoul as well as the L.A. production of Livin' Dolls for which he received both the Dramalogue and L.A. Weekly awards for best director. Off-Broadway he directed Broadway '68, a hit revue of songs from that season's worst musicals at La MaMa; revues of Marc Shaiman’s theatre songs, and extravagant ƒºÂre’-interpretations of such classics as The Sound of Music, starring Holly Woodlawn; Peter Pan, starring John Sex; and The Trojan Women. Mr. Wittman directed an all-star cast, including Bette Midler, Elaine Stritch, Madeline Kahn, and Lypsinka in Doin' What Comes Natr’lly, a benefit tribute to Ethel Merman. For PBS, he directed Sarah Jessica Parker and Nathan Lane in solo performances with the Boston Pops. Other television credits include serving as writer and segment producer for The Howard Stern Show and co-writing special music material for The Martin Short Show. In theatres and nightclubs he has written, directed, and staged shows for Christine Ebersole, The High-Heeled Women, Ute Lemper, Ann Magnuson, Lonette McKee, and Raquel Welch.

Mark O'Donnell (Book)

Mark O'Donnell's plays include That's It, Folks!, Fables for Friends, and The Nice and the Nasty (all produced at Playwrights Horizons), and Strangers on Earth and Vertigo Park (both produced by Zena Group Theatre). He wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Tots in Tinseltown. Mr. O'Donnell collaborated with Bill Irwin on an adaptation of Moliere's Scapin and he co-authored a translation of Feydeau's A Flea in Her Ear, both for the Roundabout. For Manhattan Theatre Club he translated Jean Claude Carriere's La Terrasse. Mr. O'Donnell's one-act plays are widely produced, most notable at Actors Theatre of Lousville. He has published two collections of comic stories Elementary Education, and Vertigo Park and Other Tall Tales (both Knopf) as well as two recent novels Getting Over Homer and Let Nothing You Dismay (both now in Vintage paperback). His humor, cartoons, and poetry have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Spy, The New Republic, and Esquire, among many others. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lecomte du Nuoy Prize, and the George S. Kaufman Award.

Thomas Meehan (Book)

Thomas Meehan won the 2001 Tony Award for co-writing the book for The Producers, the new Mel Brooks Musical. He received his first Tony Award in 1977 for writing the book of Annie, which was his first Broadway show, and has since written the books for the musicals I Remember Mama, Ain't Broadway Grand, and Annie Warbucks. In addition, he is a longtime contributor of humor to The New Yorker, an Emmy-Award-winning writer of television comedy, and a collaborator on a number of screenplays, including Mel Brooks's Spaceballs and To Be or Not to Be.

John Waters (Creative Consultant)

John Waters transformed the American cinema with his radical sensibility that gave us Pink Flamingos, the creen gimmick Odorama, the immortal Divine, the phenomenon of midnight movies, and Baltimore, Maryland as a film capital. As America's ultimate independent filmmaker, author, social critic, debonair lover of the lurid, and provocateur, he has rejoiced in shocking and charming audiences throughout the world. Mr. Waters is the writer-director of the films Cecil B. Demented (2000), Pecker (1998), Serial Mom (1994), Cry-Baby (1990), Hairspray (1988), Polyester (1981), Desperate Living (1977), Female Trouble (1974), Pink Flamingos (1972), Multiple Maniacs (1970), and Mondo Trasho (1969). He is the author of four books: Shock Value, Trash Trio, Crackpot, and Director's Cut.

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