‘Hairspray’ Songwriter Marc Shaiman Stands Up for His Fans

When a crowd of hundreds lined up at the AMC Lincoln Square theater hours early for a free screening of Hairspray Monday night, everyone expected that some among them would not get in; after all, their passes — e-mailed to them by New Line through an evite.com promotion — said that seating was first-come, first-served. It was a real surprise, though, when no one got in, and a bigger surprise when the theater reportedly called the police to help disperse the angry crowd of show-tune- and freebie-loving fans. (Apparently, a separate promotion, for hair-salon employees, packed the house.) Needless to say, the complaints were flying on the Broadway message boards almost immediately.

Marc Shaiman to the rescue!

The famously fan-friendly Hairspray songwriter posted to BroadwayWorld.com’s message boards yesterday morning, apologizing to fans who felt mistreated and asking what New Line could do to make it up to them. “I went to the Premiere in NYC last night and basically lived a fantasy,� Shaiman wrote. “I am truly sorry that anyone out there went to the movie last night and had the opposite experience.�

By last night, Shaiman had an e-mail address at New Line for angry fans to write to in order to be “taken care of.� “I don’t know if that means a free pass, a DVD extra or a back massage,� Shaiman wrote, but at least he’s trying! We don’t mind saying that in a world where low-level fan indignities like this rarely get addressed, we find it totally adorable that Marc Shaiman went hat in hand to New Line to try to get them to apologize for being morons.