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Few resumés compare to that of Alan Menken. The American musician has composed songs for The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tangled – and that’s just a few. It’s no wonder people often credit him for creating the soundtrack to our childhoods.
His record goes beyond Disney, too. It was his creative genius that brought the Little Shop of Horrors score to life, as well as those for A Bronx Tale and A Christmas Carol. If you squint hard enough, he says you could even give him partial credit for Wicked.
“When I started working with Stephen Schwartz on Pocahontas [in 1995], he was leaving the business. He was done and felt fed up. He wanted to become a therapist. So, I should take credit for Wicked because I kept him in the business,” Menken quips.
You’d think that after more than 50 years in the business, eight Academy Awards (the most of any person still alive today) and EGOT status (earned by winning Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar and Tony awards), Menken would slow down a touch. Well, you’d be wrong.
The 76-year-old is still booked and busy, working on the live-action version of Tangled, Broadway’s Night at the Museum, and musical adaptations of both Animal Farm and Nancy Drew. He’s also preparing for a trip to Australia in May, where he’ll be performing live concerts of his greatest hits in Sydney and Melbourne.
“I have a lot going on, and there are times when I go, ‘Oh God, this is too much’. But, other than my family, composing is very much the centre of my life,” he says.
This has been the case for as long as he can remember. Inspired by classics like Disney’s Fantasia and Beethoven’s Pastoral, he began composing his own music from the age of nine. Despite coming from a family “lousy with dentists”, he pursued a career in composition instead and was scooped up by Disney in the 1980s. That’s when his musical empire truly began to grow.
From The Little Mermaid (1989) to Hercules (1997), Menken became one of the defining faces of the “Disney Renaissance”, a period that catapulted Disney back into critical and commercial success following a string of subpar titles. It was a magical time, Menken says, an era when everyone collectively decided to return the Mouse House to its roots.
“There was a hunger for the return of the classic era of Disney,” he says. “A new generation of people were coming in to run it … Everyone from the head of animation to the top of the company came from a theatre background. So, we were bringing that flame – giving new life to this world of Disney that we all loved while growing up – but we were also bringing in a real theatricality in terms of our craft.”
There’s something about Menken’s craft in particular, though, that consistently pulls in audiences. He believes this comes down to his use of music as a form of vocabulary – he draws from specific stories, emotions and ethos, as well as existing material that may feel familiar, yet fresh, for listeners. For example, Little Shop of Horrors winks at Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” and bubblegum rock’n’roll, while Aladdin draws from Harlem jazz.
“There’s familiarity in terms of the intention of the song. But then I pride myself in the fact that the song will go unexpected places and have its own voice, its own purpose.”
Despite his status, Menken remains humble. He doesn’t consider any of the productions he’s worked on as “Alan Menken musicals”, rather he has simply delivered what he thinks the characters should be singing. He likens his work to that of an architect: it’s as though he’s designing a house that others are going to live in and decorate their own way – he just needs to create a foundation that will hold.
“It’s not about me at all,” he says. “I don’t think there’s any form more collaborative than musicals. And I think that’s the great strength of them.”
Over his decades-long career, Menken has worked with a long list of musical theatre legends, including David Zippel, Tim Rice, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Howard Ashman – the “patron saint of Disney” who died in 1991.
As much as Menken cherishes his work with Disney, he admits it can be a double-edged sword. It means he’s sometimes at the mercy of the mammoth studio’s whims – he references the studio’s addition of the funny gargoyles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a decision some felt diminished the original Gothic material. It also means some people may automatically dismiss Menken’s work as “just Disney”. Neither of these things put him off, though.
“My bank account doesn’t mind that,” he laughs. “I love the association of my music with Disney.”
As much as it may seem like he’ll continue composing forever, Menken says there will eventually come a time to stop. He’s just not sure when. In the meantime, his Australian shows – which will mark his first performances in Australia – will offer his fans a glimpse into the arc of his career so far. That arc my not yet be complete, but he says it’s already worth celebrating.
“When I take the bow, I’m taking a bow for the songs as much as I’m taking a bow for just telling the story of my particular life. It’s been a great ride.”
