Hey so I feel like Alan Menken is a really forgotten composer and I wanted to hear your guys's opinions on his shows.....I know he only does the music but he's worked with both Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater as well as others for lyrics but like I said I feel like he's often forgotten speaking that he's only won one tony award for all of his best score nominations....now only opinions on shows of his that have been on broadway his movies (Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Pocahontas, Home On The Range, Hercules and a few more I've mentions don't count) what do you think is his best show? Worst show??
Alan Menken Musicals
Little Shop Of Horrors (1982/2003)
Beauty and The Beast (1994)
The Little Mermaid (200
Sister Act (2011)
Leap Of Faith (2012)
Newsies (2012)
Aladdin (2014)
A Bronx Tale (2016)
IMO:Best-Little Shop Of Horrors Worst-Leap Of Faith
I don't know in what universe Alan Menken is a forgotten composer. Little shop alone is still supremely popular and well known, not to mention his ton of Disney scores.
It's sort of hard to consider his best/worst when listing only his scores that appeared on Broadway. I prefer a more complete list:
God Bless You Mr. Rosewater Little Shop of Horrors The Little Mermaid Weird Romance Beauty and the Beast Newsies Aladdin A Christmas Carol Pocahontas The Hunchback of Notre Dame King David Hercules Home on the Range Sister Act Enchanted Tangled Leap of Faith The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Sausage Party A Bronx Tale
Best: Little Shop of Horrors Worst: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
I almost feel Sausage Party is the worst, but it's really due to the lyrics. Menken's melodies really aren't bad. I'm just surprised he signed on for such an ill-conceived horrific project.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
JudyDenmark said: "Little Shop is arguably my favorite musical, period. So that's a no-brainer for me.
But Hercules and Hunchback are truly works of art. I still hold out hope for a Hercules musical... the music is glorious.
"
There's still hope, he himself has said it's another of his own work that he would like to see on stage in it's full glory. That cruise one was tragic...and I dammit I wanna be Meg so damn badly.
Moving on, to say he's forgotten seems very silly. Not known outside of the world of Disney/show bis would be more correct. He, among a few other composers, are the ones who's music you absolutely would know, but you don't know who HE is. Kinda like how no one seems to know who Robin Wright Penn is but the moment you say "JJjjjeennnaaayyy" everyone knows who she is. It's their work you know, not the actual person. A friend of mine who's a musician (more hobby than anything but still) but not necessarily a show tune nut, didn't even know his name, but whenI listed all his work his response was "Wow....to have written all that work that the whole planet know and has affected so many in great ways and yet only be known to Disneyphiles...". Very apropos. Unless you're a musical theater nerd/Disneyphile, you won't know his name. Being a millennial, his work is the soundtrack to my childhood and I STILL have to constantly remind my parents of his name/who he is.
Oh god...for me to name a favorite is practically impossible because I adore him way more than any words can express, so I better stop gushing now, BUT I just gonna name favorites, regardless of stage or not. Beauty and the Beast for it's sheer Menken-ness, it's what I would put as classic Menken, but Hunchback, Hercules, and Pocahontas for showing his amazing set of versatility he has. None of those three sound like the other, he's 100% tops in creating a musical universe for his shows, a world of what he thinks the music would sound like in that world, real or not, and how they might change with each character or situation but still make completes sense in the puzzle of the whole piece.
Now my favorite lesser known works of his are Weird Romance, thank you to who mentioned that one it NEEDS it day in the sun (no pun intended), and King David. I'm surprised no one mentioned that one yet, it's another classic Menken that I'm shocked no one seems to remember. I want that piece done as a fully staged musical VERY badly...The man has hardly any bad work to his name, and is also a master of deceptive simplicity. He's writes such hummable tunes that aren't cheaply catchy but still accessible to the masses. He's a genius for sure.
I found it the opposite. The tedium of cartoon food making sex jokes and toilet humor wore off for me halfway through the opening song. The strain and effort to FORCE juvenile "humor" at every other line were painful. I gave up on the film after about 10 minutes.
"THE GUY IS A WIENER AND SHE'S A BUN! THE WIENER WANTS TO GET IN THE BUN!! HAR HAR HAR!!!"