It may come as a surprise that it took this long, but for the first time in the decade-long history of The Hollywood Reporter’s composer roundtable, someone broke into song. Perhaps less surprising, that someone was show-tune veteran Marc Shaiman, who finds himself in the awards hunt this year with Rob Marshall’s Mary Poppins Returns (if Shaiman lands an Oscar this year, he’ll achieve EGOT status).
Shaiman, 59, joined an eclectic group of film music vets and upstarts who find themselves — and their music — in the awards season conversation: Terence Blanchard, 56, Spike Lee’s longtime composer of choice, who provided the score for BlacKkKlansman; Justin Hurwitz, 33, who, two years after taking home two Oscars for La La Land, reteamed with director Damien Chazelle for First Man; Hans…