The man who composed the haunting score for the AcademyAward-winning film and the stage extravaganza for the Disney empireis very accommodating at 9 a.m., considering his day's schedule isfull of interviews.
Menken, along with the late lyricist Howard Ashman, brought theanimated feature film genre back to life with the megahit trio ofDisney's "Aladdin," "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast."Ashman never lived to see "Beauty and the Beast," having diedin 1991 of complications from AIDS. Menken discusses his late friendand musical collaborator with unabashed respect."Our first show was `God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater,' " Menkenbegins. "We met in 1982 when I was working in New York as a writer,arranger and accompanist, and Howard was the artistic director of theWPA Theater."How do I describe Howard at that time? He was Off-Off-Broadwaywith a deadly offbeat sensibility. You wouldn't have guessed thatthis was a man who had a splendid sense of musical theater structureand a real writer's voice. I knew from our very first meetings thatthis was a man who knew exactly what he wanted."While "Rosewater" won critical acclaim, the show that wouldmake them the team in musical theater would be their next production,a kitschy, campy cult hit called "Little Shop of Horrors.""I guess with that show we became what `Rent' is now. We werethe young, surprising upstart (show) in New York that everybodyflocked to see."The call to work on an animated film for Disney soon followed.The joy of the opportunity would be tempered with great sadness."The AIDS epidemic hit the New York theater world and radicallychanged the landscape for everybody. Tom Eyen, who was writing`Dream Girls,' is gone. Steve Brown, with whom I wrote two shows, isgone."Howard never told anyone he was sick. So when the opportunitycame to work for Disney, he embraced it wholeheartedly. I think hewanted to move out of New York and get as far away as possible fromall of it."I wanted to move into film, and the opportunity to work on aDisney animated feature was irresistible. It's a great tradition,and for a songwriter there's no better medium."Working almost simultaneously on "Aladdin" and "The LittleMermaid," Menken and Ashman upped the ante on "Beauty and the Beast,"as Menken puts it, deciding not to write a film score, but a Broadwayscore for an animated picture."We weren't sure Disney would even want it. We sent them ourfirst two songs, `Be Our Guest' and `Belle,' and we really thought itwould not go over too well. What we got back was an absolutelyecstatic response."The response to the film by audiences, critics and the movieindustry itself was phenomenal, and two Academy Awards later, Disneyopted to make "Beauty and the Beast" its first foray into afull-scale Broadway production. Moving from film back to a theaterproduction was not something Menken had intended."Initially I had mixed feelings about the transfer of `Beautyand the Beast' to the stage. Howard was gone, and the only history Iknew of the Walt Disney Co., as far as things onstage, were thoseDisneyland shows. I had visions of giant foam heads dancing aroundup there."Menken's fears were put to rest by then-Disney executive JeffreyKatzenberg, who assembled the composer's "dream team" for theproject. "I got to the presentation meeting at Disney and there was(costumer) Ann Hould-Ward and (director) Rob Roth and (choreographer)Matt West. It was obvious (Disney) wanted to do it right, the wayany theatrical producer would want to do it."To complete the stage version, Menken had to revisit hisOscar-winning score with lyricist Tim Rice ("Evita," "The Lion King")in place of Ashman, adding five new songs to the 2 1/2-hour musical.With "Pocahontas," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Hercules"added to his credits, Menken's work continued to capture a newgeneration of animated feature film fans.Menken has seen enormous success, but he has also had to swallowa few bitter pills. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," which Menken saysis the favorite of Disney chairman Michael Eisner, received alukewarm response from audiences, while "Hercules" was a box-officeflop. His most recent endeavor, a Broadway concert performance of"King David" that featured the lyrics of Rice, played nineperformances at New York's New Amsterdam Theatre.At 48, the composer admits he has reached a crossroads in hislife."It's a time for me to sort of harvest what I've done over thelast 15 years and then gather my forces for where I want to go fromthis point." `King David' was a good start, a very good experience.`Hunchback of Notre Dame,' which I thought was my best score, got arelatively chilly response even though the critical response waswonderful. `Hercules' - I've never received reviews like that in mylife - had a tough time at the box office. I'm really trying toassess what's meaningful for me and what I want to do irrespective ofbox-office success or awards or critical opinion."In addition to the stage version of "The Hunchback of NotreDame," which is occupying much of Menken's time these days, thecomposer also is taking time to record his first album, due out ayear from now."The most exciting thing for me right now is doing an album ofmy music for Sony that Phil Ramone is producing. I have thisenormous catalog of songs, some that people know, some that peopledon't. I want to reinterpret them in my way, to bring them outsideof the context of each project and the characters and bring them intoa performatory record. Before I hit the age of 50 I should make anattempt to become a recording artist. (He laughs.) Before it's toolate."
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