Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Alan Menken (born July 22, 1949) is a pianist and composer of American musical theatre and film.
Menken is best known for his scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Home on the Range, The Shaggy Dog, Enchanted, and most recently, Tangled. Menken has collaborated on several occasions with lyricists including Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Glenn Slater, and Stephen Schwartz. With nineteen nominations and eight wins, Menken is the third person to win the most Oscars after Walt Disney (twenty-two wins) and Alfred Newman (nine wins).
Life and career
Menken was born in New York, NY to a Jewish family, the son of Judith and Norman Menken, a dentist. He developed an interest in music at an early age, studying piano and violin. He went to New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York. He attended college as a pre-med student, but later changed his focus to music at NYU Steinhardt. After college, he attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. He performed frequently in local clubs and worked as a composer of jingles and songs and as an accompanist.
In the late 1970s, Menken wrote several shows that were successfully showcased, but were not produced. Menken's first major professional work was with Ashman for the Off-Broadway 1979 WPA Theatre production of the play God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, an adaptation of a Kurt Vonnegut novel. This was well received, but three years later, he achieved greater success with the 1982 Off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors, again with Ashman, for which he earned a Drama Desk Award nomination. Little Shop was adapted for a successful motion picture and later received a Broadway run.
In 1983, Menken received the BMI Career Achievement Award for his body of work for musical theater, including Little Shop of Horrors, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Real Life Funnies, Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy (produced in workshop as Battle of the Giants), Patch, Patch, Patch, and contributions to numerous revues including Personals and Diamonds. In 1987, a musical adaptation of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, with lyrics by David Spencer, was produced in Philadelphia. In 1992, the WPA Theatre produced Menken's Weird Romance, also with lyrics also by Spencer. Menken's 1994 musical based on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Mike Ockrent, debuted at Madison Square Garden's Paramount Theater. The show proved successful and is becoming an annual New York holiday event. Menken received both Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations for the music to the stage musical version of Beauty and the Beast which opened on Broadway in 1994.
Menken is best known, however, for his work over the past two decades with Walt Disney Pictures scoring numerous films, including Disney animated classics The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules and Home on the Range, and most recently, Disney's 2010 animated film Tangled. He also wrote music for the Disney live-action films Newsies (1992) and Enchanted (2007). Menken has received dual Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song on four of these projects. With eight Academy Award wins (four each for Best Original Score and Best Original Song), only composer Alfred Newman (nine wins) and Walt Disney (twenty two wins) have received more Oscars than Menken. He is tied in third place with late costume designer Edith Head. He currently holds the record for the most wins for a living person. He was named a Disney Legend in 2001.
A musical version of The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway in January 2008. Menken's Sister Act the Musical was produced in London, 2009, and opened on Broadway in Spring 2011. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Score for his work.
Menken received the 2,422nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 10, 2010.
He is working on stage adaptations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Newsies and Aladdin.
In December 2010, he was a guest on NPR's new quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.
Filmography
Feature
Score and songs
The Little Mermaid 1989 (double Oscar winner)Beauty and the Beast 1991 (double Oscar winner)Newsies 1992Aladdin 1992 (double Oscar winner)Life with Mikey 1993Pocahontas 1995 (double Oscar winner)The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1996 (Oscar nominee)Hercules 1997 (Oscar nominee)Home on the Range 2004Noel 2004The Shaggy Dog 2006Enchanted 2007 (Oscar nominee)Tangled 2010 (Oscar nominee) (Grammy winner)Mirror Mirror 2012Songs only
Little Shop of Horrors (complete soundtrack, score by Miles Goodman) 1986 (Oscar nominee)Who Discovered Roger Rabbit (the song "This Only Happens in the Movies", score by Alan Silvestri) 1988 (unproduced prequel)Polly (the song "By your side", score by Joel McNeely) 1989Rocky V (the song "The Measure of a Man", score by Bill Conti) 1990Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (the song "My Christmas Tree", score by John Williams) 1992Captain America: The First Avenger (the song "Star Spangled Man", score by Alan Silvestri) 2011Jock of the Bushveld (two versions of the song "Howling at the Moon", score by Klaus Badelt and Ian Honeyman) 2012Television
Sesame Street (the songs "Grouchelot", "It's Gonna Get Dirty Again," "Snuffle Friends," "Martian Family (Yip Yip Song)," and "Todos un Pueblo") 1989-1990Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (supervising composer, the song "Wonderful Ways to Say No") 1990A Christmas Carol 2004Musicals
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater WPA Theatre May 1979 and Entermedia Theater October 1979Little Shop of Horrors Off Broadway 1982 and Broadway revival 2003Weird Romance 1992 Off Broadway and 2007 revival of two 1-act musicals Girl who was Plugged in and Her Pilgrim SoulAladdin, Jr. 1992 a one-act, seven-scene theatre musical adapted from the animated Disney film Aladdin.Beauty and the Beast Broadway 1994 (Tony nominee)A Christmas Carol Perennial holiday run (10 years) The Theatre at Madison Square Garden 1994-2003King David 1997Der Glöckner von Notre Dame German musical 1999The Little Mermaid Broadway 2008 (Tony nominee)Sister Act the Musical West End 2009, Broadway 2011 (Tony nominee)Leap of Faith 2010 Los Angeles, Broadway 2012Newsies stage musical Papermill Playhouse 2011, Broadway 2012Other
Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage - Theatrical show at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney WorldDisney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular - Theatrical show at Disney California Adventure ParkThe Hunchback of Notre Dame - Theatrical show at Disney's MGM Studios, Walt Disney WorldThe Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure - Attraction at Disney California Adventure ParkSindbad's Storybook Voyage - Attraction at Tokyo DisneySea, Tokyo Disney ResortUpcoming projects
Disney has announced that Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame, the Berlin stage musical adaptation of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame will be coming to the Broadway stage in the next couple of years. Although the extended music and new songs with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz were completed for the 1999 premiere in Germany, the show is being fine tuned for American audiences, with a 2012 premiere anticipated.A Broadway musical version of Disney's Aladdin, with a book by Chad Beguelin. The songs will be the ones featured in the movie, along with cut songs written by both Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and the song that Menken wrote by himself for the theatrical adaption at Disney California Adventure Park (To Be Free).Casey Nicholaw is expected to direct and choreograph the stage musical Aladdin which is expected to run at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, Washington, July 7–31, 2011."Menken along with Weird Romance collaborator David Spencer wrote the musical The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, which is currently in Canada.Awards
Academy Award nominations and wins
1987 Nominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space", from Little Shop of Horrors1990 Won, Best Original Score - The Little MermaidWon, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Under the Sea", from The Little MermaidNominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Kiss the Girl", from The Little Mermaid1992 Won, Best Original Score - Beauty and the BeastWon, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - Beauty and the Beast, from Beauty and the BeastNominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Belle", from Beauty and the BeastNominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Be Our Guest", from Beauty and the Beast1993 Won, Best Original Score - AladdinWon, Best Original Song (with Tim Rice) - "A Whole New World", from AladdinNominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - "Friend Like Me", from Aladdin1996 Won, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - "Colors of the Wind", from PocahontasWon, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (with Stephen Schwartz) - Pocahontas1997 Nominated, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (with Stephen Schwartz) - The Hunchback of Notre Dame1998 Nominated, Best Original Song (with David Zippel) - "Go the Distance", from Hercules2008 Nominated, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - "Happy Working Song", from EnchantedNominated, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - "So Close", from EnchantedNominated, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - "That's How You Know", from Enchanted2011 Nominated, Best Original Song (with Glenn Slater) - I See the Light from TangledGolden Globe nominations and wins
1990 Won, Best Original Score for The Little MermaidWon, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - Motion Picture from - "Under the Sea" from The Little MermaidNominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) - Motion Picture - "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid1992 Won, Best Original Score for Beauty and the BeastWon, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) for Beauty and the Beast, from Beauty and the BeastNominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) for Be Our Guest, from Beauty and the Beast1993 Won, Best Original Score for AladdinWon, Best Original Song (with Tim Rice) - "A Whole New World", from AladdinNominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) for Friend Like Me, from AladdinNominated, Best Original Song (with Howard Ashman) for Prince Ali from Aladdin1996 Won, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) for "Colors of the Wind" from PocahontasNominated, Best Original Score for Pocahontas1997 Nominated, Best Original Score for The Hunchback of Notre Dame1998 Nominated, Best Original Song (with David Zippel) - Go the Distance from Hercules2008 Nominated, Best Original Song (with Stephen Schwartz) - That's How You Know from Enchanted2011 Nominated, Best Original Song (with Glenn Slater) - I See the Light from TangledGrammy Awards
Menken has ten Grammy awards, including Song of the Year for 1993.