Movies becoming musicals is no big deal these days. Unless that pic-cum-tuner happens to be Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me if You Can," as adapted by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the team behind "Hairspray." The show is set for a pre-Broadway run at Seattle's Fifth Avenue Theater this summer.
The songwriting duo know Spielberg from Martin Short's Christmas parties, where Shaiman has tickled the ivories. "The first time Steven brought his clarinet to play 'Hanukah, O Hanukah,'" Shaiman recalls, "I said to him, 'Can I now tell people I've worked with you?'"
Spielberg was a big fan of "Hairspray," reportedly seeing the show several times. "Obviously, without his blessing we wouldn't be doing 'Catch Me' now," Shaiman says. "His encouragement has been fantastic."
Shaiman and Wittman first considered setting Spielberg's movie as a musical after spotting the published script in a bookshop. "The emotional life of its characters are rich and moving, lending themselves to the kind of expression so right for a musical with heart and soul," says Shaiman.
In addition, the movie offers a panoply of musical possibilities. "You had Frank Sinatra, the Rolling Stones and Peggy Lee all on the radio back then," the composer notes, "and Judy Garland was on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' right after Herman's Hermits."
Though Shaiman and Wittman have telescoped the movie's storyline -- "We do not follow Frank Jr. to Europe," Shaiman says, referring to the lead character's myriad adventures -- they cleave to the film's essence and the Spielberg ethos as it resonates in his body of work.
It's a sympathy that Shaiman characterizes as, "The dreams of the common man (and child), the importance of family and someone who believes in you."
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