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Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 8:54 pm
by D82
Thanks for posting! I still haven't watched the video, but I'm glad Alan received this recognition!
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2022 2:23 pm
by 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.)
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2022 3:08 pm
by Sotiris
blackcauldron85 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 2:23 pmNot 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.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2022 4:15 pm
by blackcauldron85
The article didn't mention James Horner I don't think...?
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2022 4:27 pm
by Sotiris
blackcauldron85 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 4:15 pm
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.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2022 8:08 pm
by 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?
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2022 8:22 pm
by Disney's Divinity
I can't even imagine a world without B&tB's "Transformation" score in it.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 4:42 am
by Sotiris
blackcauldron85 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 8:08 pmA 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.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 5:32 am
by 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!!)!!
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2022 9:51 pm
by 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.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2022 5:58 am
by 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.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2022 9:01 pm
by D82
I hope so too.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2022 10:04 am
by 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.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2022 10:46 am
by 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.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2022 2:02 pm
by 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...?
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2022 5:30 pm
by Sotiris
blackcauldron85 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 26, 2022 2:02 pmTangled 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".
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 5:32 am
by 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?
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2022 8:55 am
by 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.
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2023 1:40 pm
by 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
Re: Alan Menken News & Discussion
Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2023 2:23 pm
by 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?