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Never Mind the Happy
- Author
- Marc Shaiman
- Narrator
- Marc Shaiman
- Publisher
- Recorded Books, Inc.
- Publish Date
- 27 January 2026
- Run Time
- 9 hours 25 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
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.
This audiobook includes music performed by Marc Shaiman, with special guest appearances from Norbert Leo Butz, Martin Short, Christine Ebersole, Ben Whishaw, and more!
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Details
- Author
- Marc Shaiman
- Narrator
- Marc Shaiman
- Duration
- 9 hours 25 minutes
- Release Date
- 27 January 2026
- ISBN
- 9798899745652
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Recorded Books, Inc.
- Genre
- Humour, Popular culture, Biography: arts and entertainment
Synopsis
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. This audiobook includes music performed by Marc Shaiman, with special guest appearances from Norbert Leo Butz, Martin Short, Christine Ebersole, Ben Whishaw, and more!
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