'F--- You' for Not Having Seen It

In fairness to Waxman, asking that question doesn't necessarily mean she hadn't already seen "Prop 8: The Musical," Shaiman's online protest hit, which she embeds in the piece. Like lawyers, journalists often ask questions to which they already know the answer, because they need the response in the subject's own words. That goes double in a Q&A format.

Shaiman does answer the question, then poignantly adds: "The reason for writing it was soul-killing. But the exhiliaration [sic] of writing something for a reason, for fun, for no money, left us all feeling like the purest version of our 15 year old selves."

Shaiman, a terrific interview, also weighs in on where composers stand in the Hollywood pecking order and how music piracy could spell doom for his retirement fund.