{ Alan Menken

Early Life and Career Alan Menken was born July 22nd, 1949 in New Rochelle, New York to Norman and Judy Menken. With encouragement from his parents, Menken developed a love for music at any early age and studied piano and violin.

Menken attended New York University where he explored a variety of majors such as Pre-Medicine, Anthropology, and Psychology before settling on Musicology. After earning his degree in Musicology from NYU Menken worked under Lehman Ingram, the Music Director at the Musical Theater Workshop. However, to support himself Menken wrote jingles, accompanied ballet classes and consulted on music for shows.

As well, Menken he took a collection of his songs and wrote a rock-ballet for The Downtown Ballet Company, called CHILDREN OF THE WORLD. While the work did not become incredibly popular Menken met his wife, Janis Roswick through the process as she was of the ballet dancers in the company.

In 1979, Alan Menken met Howard Ashman in New York. Ashman was artistic director of the WPA Theatre and was looking for a fellow composer to work with him. Lehman Engel, a mutual friend and Menken’s old boss, recommended Menken. The pair would go on to work on a variety of projects together , most notably for Disney, where Menken would compose the music and Ashman would write the lyrics.

Style of Music Menken and Ashman were known for incorporating a variety of musical styles into their arrangements. Example: Reggae Music in “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid

Little Shop of HorrorsMenken and Ashman achieved there first success with the musical Little Shop of Horrors which premiered Off-Off- Broadway in 1982 but soon moved to the Orpheum Theatre Off Broadway where is has a five year run. The show quickly became popular and spurred many productions in the U.S. and abroad as well as an on Broadway Production. The musical also spurred a movie that came out in 1986. Menken wrote an additional song for the movie, “Mean green Mother From Outer Space.” The song was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Song Category.

Menken and Ashman

Disney Alan Menken and Howard Ashman are most famous for their work on multiple musical scores for Disney animated films including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Their first project was the Little Mermaid. Menken had never attempted to compose a film score before but was nevertheless earned an Oscar for not only Best Song (“Under the Sea”) but Best Score as well. Menken and Ashman are partially credited with the come back of Animated Musicals. Within a year of the release of the Little Mermaid the pair began work on two new projects, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

Howard Ashman would die before the release of the two projects after a long battle with HIV Aids. However, his influence would continue to inspire Disney animators and composers, such as Alan Menken. Howard Ashman died at the early of 40 ion March 14th, 1991.

Beauty and the Beast would go on to win Best Picture at the Golden Globes. The song “Beauty and the Beast” became a hit single. Aladdin also won Best Score and 2 Best Song nominations. “A Whole New World,” written by Menken and Tim Rice after the passing of Howard Ashman, won Best Song.

All three of these Disney musicals would be adapted to Broadway. These shows would join Menken’s other Broadway productions, Newsies, Sister Act and Leap of Faith.