Alan Menken (composer)
Alan Menken is a celebrated American composer and songwriter known for his significant contributions to musical theater and film, particularly with Disney. Born on July 22, 1949, in New York City, Menken was immersed in a creative environment from an early age, fostering his passion for music and composition. He initially pursued pre-med studies at New York University but ultimately graduated with a degree in musicology, after which he began his career in the New York cabaret scene.
His breakthrough came with the musical "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" in 1979, but it was "Little Shop of Horrors," co-written with Howard Ashman, that propelled him into the spotlight. Menken's collaboration with Ashman led to iconic Disney films, including "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast," both of which won multiple Academy Awards. After Ashman's passing, Menken partnered with Tim Rice to complete the score for "Aladdin," further solidifying his legacy in animated film music.
Throughout his career, Menken has composed for numerous successful musicals and films, including "Pocahontas" and "Tangled," earning critical acclaim and awards, including multiple Tonys and Grammys. His works remain a vital part of popular culture, resonating with audiences globally. Menken continues to create, adapting his compositions for stage and screen, while balancing his personal life with his family.
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Subject Terms
Alan Menken
Composer, pianist
- Born: July 22, 1949
- Birthplace: New York, New York
Education: New York University
Significance: Alan Menken is an American music composer known for his film and theater scores. Menken has had a storied career with Walt Disney Animation Studios, writing the music for a number of animated features, including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. He has also composed scores for live-action feature films. Many of his early animated musicals were later adapted for the stage. Menken has earned multiple awards for his work throughout his career.
Background
Alan Menken was born on July 22, 1949, in New York City. His mother was an actress and playwright, and his father was a music-loving dentist. Menken was raised in New Rochelle, New York, with his two sisters, Faye and Leah. He grew up in a household where music, theater, and the arts were greatly appreciated. From a very young age, Menken recalled wanting to compose music. As a hyperactive child, he often could not focus on his piano lessons. Rather than learn a complete piano piece, Menken would learn the gist of the piece and then improvise his way through a lesson. His teachers were understanding of the young boy's impatience, and encouraged this improvisation. This encouragement led to his earliest free-form compositions.
Menken attended Roosevelt Elementary and Albert Leonard Junior High School in New Rochelle. After graduating high school in 1967, he enrolled in the pre-med program at New York University (NYU). Menken changed his major several times throughout his time at NYU, pursuing degrees in anthropology and philosophy at various points before finally settling on a degree in musicology. After graduating in 1971, he auditioned for a musical theater workshop. He was accepted into the workshop as a composer/lyricist, and he received training from legendary Broadway conductor Lehman Engel.
Over the next decade, Menken worked in New York's cabaret circuit and composed a number of songs and jingles for shows such as Sesame Street. He also wrote many songs for various revues and musicals, including Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy, Real Life Funnies, Kicks, Diamonds, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Patch Patch Patch, and Personals. His first success as a composer came in 1979 with the musical God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, which is based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut. Menken composed the music for the production, which earned stellar reviews. It was Menken's next musical that set him on the path to stardom, however.
Life's Work
Menken cowrote the music for the Howard Ashman play Little Shop of Horrors, which debuted off-Broadway in 1982. The musical became the highest-grossing off-Broadway musical of its time and earned multiple theater awards. The musical was adapted into a film starring Rick Moranis in 1986, and the song "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" earned Menken and Ashman an Academy Award nomination for best original song.
The musical's success put Menken and Ashman in the spotlight. Disney Studios hired them to write songs for their animated features, starting with The Little Mermaid. The duo's music earned them their first Academy Award for best original song for "Under the Sea." They also won the Oscar for best score. The pair earned further accolades for their score for 1991's Beauty and the Beast, again taking home the best original song and best score Oscars. Menken and Ashman were working on another score for the Disney film Aladdin when Ashman died in 1991. Menken teamed with Tim Rice to finish the score, which earned the duo Oscars for best original song and best score. The song "A Whole New World" also won them the song of the year Grammy Award. Menken also composed the music for the film musical Newsies in 1991.
Menken composed music for three more animated Disney films throughout the late 1990s: Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and Hercules (1997). He earned another two Academy Awards for his work on Pocahontas. Menken's music also made it to Broadway when Beauty and the Beast was adapted for the stage in 1994. That same year, Menken composed the music for the musical A Christmas Carol, based on the book by Charles Dickens. The Hunchback of Notre Dame also made its way to the stage in 1998.
Apart from his successful musical compositions, Menken also composed a number of regular film scores throughout his career for movies such as Life with Mikey (1993), Noel (2004), and The Shaggy Dog (2006). His talent for musical songwriting persisted throughout the 2000s with the live-action musical Enchanted (2007) and the animated feature Tangled (2010). Menken earned three Academy Award nominations for Enchanted and won a Grammy for his Tangled song "I See the Light." The year 2007 also saw The Little Mermaid make its Broadway debut, with Menken adapting the music for stage. He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010.
Menken adapted his music for the stage version of Newsies in 2012 and earned his first Tony Award for best original score. He also wrote the music for the stage adaptation of Aladdin, which opened on Broadway in 2014 and earned Menken a Tony Award nomination. Menken embarked on new territory in 2015 when he signed on to compose music for the television series Galavant. In 2017, Beauty and the Beast was adapted into a live-action film starring Emma Watson. Menken and Rice wrote three new songs for the film.
Impact
Menken's career in theater, film, and television has produced some of the most memorable songs in entertainment history. Although he may be most remembered for his numerous musical collaborations with Walt Disney Animation Studios, his musical adaptations of books and films continue to delight audiences around the world. Having teamed up with multiple gifted playwrights, screenwriters, and songwriters throughout his career, Menken continues to be one of the most prolific composers in the entertainment business.
Personal Life
Menken married ballet dancer Janis Roswick in 1972. The couple has two daughters, Anna and Nora.
Bibliography
"Alan Menken." Songwriters Hall of Fame, www.songhall.org/profile/Alan‗Menken/. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
"Alan Menken Bio." AllMusic, www.allmusic.com/artist/alan-menken-mn0000508141/biography. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
"Just a Bit about Alan Menken." Alan Menken, www.alanmenken.com/m/biography/. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
King, Darryn. "Alan Menken: The Man Who Relaunched Disney's Fortunes with Hit Songs." Sydney Morning Herald, 16 July 2016, www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/alan-menken-the-man-who-relaunched-disneys-fortunes-with-hit-songs-20160714-gq5o6v.html. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
Klein, Alvin. "Theater; Composer Finds His Niche in Life." New York Times, 27 July 1985, www.nytimes.com/1986/07/27/nyregion/theater-composer-finds-his-niche-in-life.html?pagewanted=. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
Menken, Alan. Alan Menken Songbook. Hal Leonard, 2003.
Stamberg, Susan. "Composer Alan Menken on His Disney Tunes: 'I Prefer Them to Be Hummable.'" NPR, 16 Mar. 2017, www.npr.org/2017/03/16/520291393/composer-alan-menken-on-his-disney-tunes-i-prefer-them-to-be-hummable. Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.