Hairspray turns 20: Untold stories of the Tony-winning musical

Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winokur in Broadway's 'Hairspray'

Hairspray fans of course know there would be no Tony-winning musical without the genius of John Waters' 1988 film of the same name — but they also have a more unlikely source to thank: South Park.

At the turn of the past century, Marc Shaiman — the music man behind everything from Saturday Night Live's the Sweeney Sisters to Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" to the Sister Act movies' songs — was finding steady work as a musical director and score composer, but he wasn't getting offered the Broadway musical songwriting gigs he longed for. Then came the 1999 musical movie South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut. The big-screen edition of Comedy Central's irreverent series was a hit, and garnered Shaiman his fourth Oscar nomination, a Best Song nod for "Blame Canada."

"That kind of put my name back in the lips — or ears — of the New York theater community," Shaiman tells EW, sitting in front of his piano keyboard in his New York home office on a recent May afternoon for a full retrospective on his career. "Luckily, [producer] Margo Lion had just gotten the rights to Hairspray and she was asking people, 'Who should I get to write the score of this musical?' And luckily, a lot of people said to her, 'Oh, you should call Marc Shaiman.'"

Shaiman took the call, and when Lion asked who he'd have join him as co-lyricist, he immediately suggested his then-partner Scott Wittman, whom he'd sparked a personal and professional relationship with after meeting in the East Village club scene decades prior. The duo had previously written a musical, Livin' Dolls, that Shaiman says "almost made it, but didn't," so the composer was confident they were the perfect pair for the job. Lion wasn't so sure.

"She was a little wary of an actual couple," Shaiman explains. "Like, 'What if they fight?'"

"We didn't fight till 20 years later," Wittman interjects with a laugh, referencing their eventual personal breakup, "so it was okay."

M. Caulfield/WireImage Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman accepting their Grammy for the original Broadway cast recording of 'Hairspray'

It was more than okay. Hairspray was an instant success, scoring 13 Tony nominations — and taking home eight trophies at the 2003 ceremony, including one for Shaiman and Wittman's score.

The songwriting team says their first four songs "poured" out of them before they'd even booked the gig, submitting "Good Morning Baltimore," "Welcome to the 60's," "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful," and "I Know Where I've Been" to Lion as proof they were the right team for the job.

"I think it was because our sense of humor was so aligned with John Waters," says Wittman. "For 'Good Morning Baltimore,' I said to Marc, 'I think it should open like Oklahoma. Like, 'Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin,' only it's Baltimore. Everything was to make John laugh in a way."

Months later, they got the chance to show their muse their work: "When he was pleased at the very first reading, that meant everything," Wittman says of Waters. Though not everyone was confident about the show's success. Wittman recalls a reading for potential investors where now-disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein said "no one wants to see a show about a fat girl."

Mathew Imaging/WireImage Marissa Jaret Winokur and Harvey Fierstein in Broadway's 'Hairspray'

But Wittman and Shaiman — who are adapting their songs from NBC's musical drama Smash into a Broadway show and are currently Tony-nominated for Some Like It Hot — are so glad they proved him wrong.

"It took us all around the world. We've seen it in Finland and South Africa," Wittman says of Hairspray, which is still touring the world and was made into a star-studded film and an NBC live production. "It's been the ultimate every-dream-come-true experience for years and years," adds Shaiman. "It was the kind of show we most wanted to write in our lives. It represents the best part of who we are. I can point to Hairspray and say, 'That's who I mean to be. That's me — or at least me when I'm good.'"

Ed. note: A previous version of this story incorrectly attributed Weinstein's quote to Hairspray star Harvey Fierstein.

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