Menken’s Life
Born to a ‘boogie-woogie’ piano-playing dentist father and an actress, dancer and playwright mother, Alan Irwin Menken took to music and composition at an early age, winning the New York Federation of Music Clubs Junior Composers Contest at age 9. Whilst he grew tired of musicology, his passion for composition was ignited by a workshop with Broadway composer Lehman Engel.
After graduating from New York University, Menken became a freelance composer, writing music for club acts, jingles, and songs for Sesame Steet, amongst other work. He became a household name when his work for Disney became incredibly popular, working on the score for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules, forming the backbone of Disney’s ‘Renaissance’ period.
Notable Operas
While not a writer of operas, Menken is a prolific writer of musicals, including:
- Little Shop of Horrors (Off-Broadway, 1982; West End, 1983; Broadway, 2003)
- Beauty and the Beast (Broadway, 1994; West End, 1997)
- A Christmas Carol (1994)
- Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (Berlin, 1999)
- Sister Act (West End, 2009; Broadway, 2011)
- Newsies (Paper Mill Playhouse, 2011; Broadway, 2012)