Alan Menken News & Discussion

[D82]

Hollywood in Vienna 2022 - A Celebration Of Disney Classics - Featuring Alan Menken
https://youtu.be/2UmwgZ9pH9A

Thanks for posting! I still haven't watched the video, but I'm glad Alan received this recognition!

[blackcauldron85]

How Alan Menken Transformed Movie Music
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235282892/
(Not a perfect intro, as Menken didn't work on O&Co or WFRR and TRDU had 0 songs... But the rest is neat.)

[Sotiris]

Not a perfect intro, as Menken didn't work on O&Co or WFRR and TRDU had 0 songs...

The reporter probably got confused because Howard wrote the lyrics for "Once Upon a Time in New York City" from Oliver & Company while Alan wrote the songs for the shelved Who Discovered Roger Rabbit. Anyway, besides those errors it was a nice little profile piece. I never knew Alan had to audition to get the job as The Little Mermaid's score composer. It's hard to believe that even after TLM's success, Disney wanted James Horner to score Beauty and the Beast. Thankfully, Alan and Howard put their foot down and refused to write the songs if Alan didn't also get to write the score.

[blackcauldron85]

The article didn't mention James Horner I don't think...?

[Sotiris]

The article didn't mention James Horner I don't think...?

That's not part of the article. That was something Alan revealed years ago in a different interview.

[blackcauldron85]

Ooh -- I don't remember that at all! A quick Google search didn't bring it up - super interesting though. Was Horner approached already and had to be told never mind, do you know?

[Disney's Divinity]

I can't even imagine a world without B&tB's "Transformation" score in it.

[Sotiris]

A quick Google search didn't bring it up - super interesting though. Was Horner approached already and had to be told never mind, do you know?

Alan revealed it in this interview. No, James Horner hadn't been approached. Thankfully, it was a suggestion that got shot down pretty quickly.

[blackcauldron85]

Thank you so much for digging that out, Sotiris!!!! Wow, good for Alan for putting his foot down (and of course for Howard having his back!!)!!

[D82]

I didn't know that behind-the-scenes story about Beauty and the Beast. Another bad idea by Jeffrey Katzenberg to add to his collection, like almost cutting "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. I'm very glad Alan didn't accept and fought to be the sole composer of the score and songs.

By the way, in a new interview Alan Menken reveals Skydance's Spellbound will be released late next year and also that he has started working on a new project with James Lapine that hasn't been announced yet.

[Sotiris]

I'm excited about Alan's new project with James Lapine which must be for the stage. I hope Alan has better luck with this one because most of his stage projects end up getting canceled.

[D82]

I hope so too.

[Disney's Divinity]

I'd actually say Menken is as good with score as songs most of the time. In the case of Disenchanted and Tangled, I'd say the score was better than the music (although I did like a few songs from both).

Do you have any theories on what the stagework with Lapine might be, Sotiris? Or do you think it's something original altogether? I just imagine Tangled and Hercules both may be on track for the stage sooner or later. I think the live-action remake for the latter might help that show actually happen as cross-promotion, but Tangled feels much more likely because it's based on a well-known fairy tale. I don't know if they'd ever attempt a TP&TF stage show one day, but I wouldn't mind if they brought Menken on for that one if Newman isn't interested (since he hates princess musicals apparently ), since Menken was involved with it early on.

[Sotiris]

It's most likely an original project. Hercules is coming to Playhouse early next year and Tangled was in pre-development before the pandemic, but got put on the back burner since then.

[blackcauldron85]

Tangled has a stage show on the cruise ship...if my memory serves me, there was a new song or 2 (I saw it on YouTube a couple years ago). I know they'd retool a lot to get it Broadway-bound but maybe the cruise show is a good starting point...?

[Sotiris]

Tangled has a stage show on the cruise ship...if my memory serves me, there was a new song or 2 (I saw it on YouTube a couple years ago).

There were three new songs written for the cruise show: "When She Returns", "Flower of Gold", and "Wanted Man".

[blackcauldron85]

Thank you! I was out with family when I posted and didn't have time to look it up! Is it doubtful that any of those would be incorporated into a new stage show?

[Sotiris]

It's certainly possible. The only consideration about including them in a future Broadway adaptation is Tony eligibility. Plays are only allowed a certain percentage of pre-existing music for them to be eligible in the score category.

[D82]

Alan Menken talked a bit about Spellbound and revealed he's working on a new project with lyricist Nell Benjamin in a new interview:

Spellbound, tell me everything!

I can't tell you that much. Number one because it is an ever-evolving project. This is a very unusual story. It has a very ambitious, central theme. I am not going to talk about the central theme because it's all hidden in a fairy tale which involves a spell. But it's a theme that affects all of us in a contemporary way. I'm collaborating with [lyricist] Glenn Slater on the songs. Chris Montan, who was the head of music and animation at Disney from The Little Mermaid, to Tangled and Frozen is the musical supervisor. For me, it's a great return to work again in animation. Some of the team have never written musicals before. So there's been a lot of work in trying to make it more of a traditional musical and people pushing me to be more ambitious in a certain way. We are still working on it. We score in the fall. We are recording with the artists who are doing it: Rachel Zegler, Javier Bardem, and Nicole Kidman. I am going to stop there.

Going back to all these people you have worked with over the years, with Lin being the newest one—

I have another lyricist I am working with at the moment. Nell Benjamin.

Of Legally Blonde, the musical.

We’ve got a new project that I shouldn't be the one to announce but we’re really having a great time.

Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/0 ... ongwriters

[Disney's Divinity]

Nicole Kidman! Love her, glad he's getting to work with her and perhaps (?) even write a song for her. I remember suggesting her as a possible choice for the Evil Queen in the remake, although I adore Gal Gadot, too, so at least they still picked someone good there anyway! I guess that connection is why I'm imagining a Nicole Kidman song as being so much like what an Evil Queen song might be like? She has such a cold, regal vibe. Zegler can sing even if I don't like her. Bardem, who knows about him, he was awful in that Lucille Ball movie a few years back is all I know.

I wonder what he's working on with Nell Benjamin? I know it wouldn't happen, but I'd love if they were working on Tiana. Any ideas about what it could be, Sotiris, if it's not simply an original project?