(Composer) is an eight-time Academy Award®-winner who continues to be one of the most celebrated and prolific composers of the day. His diverse and impressive body of work for the stage and screen has earned him just about every accolade as well as an enormous legion of fans all over the world. "Hercules" is his sixth animated feature for Disney and it follows his previous composing credits (songs and score) on "The Little Mermaid" (1989), "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), "Aladdin" (1992), "Pocahontas" (1995) and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996).
The composer's most recent accomplishments include the world premiere concert event, "King David," which he wrote with lyricist Tim Rice and which had a limited engagement run at The New Amsterdam Theatre in New York in May. Menken's upcoming schedule includes a variety of musical projects for stage and screen as well as his own album of new and existing compositions, which will be released by Sony Records.
Earlier this year, Menken received his latest Oscar® and Golden Globe nominations for his work on Disney's 1996 animated release, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." For that film, he also wrote six songs with lyricist Stephen Schwartz. He had previously worked with Schwartz on Disney's "Pocahontas," which earned both songwriters a Best Song Oscar® for "Colors of the Wind." Menken's score for that film also earned him his eighth Academy Award®. His contributions to "Pocahontas" were further acknowledged with a Golden Globe Award and an additional Grammy.
Among his many musical milestones, Menken composed the score for the Broadway production of "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" for which he received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. He also composed the score and songs for the enormously successful Disney animated film "Aladdin" (with lyricists Howard Ashman and Tim Rice) for which he received two Academy Awards® and two Golden Globes for Best Original Score and Best Song (with Tim Rice) for "A Whole New World" as well as four Grammy Awards including Song of the Year for "A Whole New World." He was also responsible for composing the songs (with lyrics by Howard Ashman) and score for the Disney animated film "Beauty and the Beast" for which he received two Academy Awards® as well as two Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Score and Best Song for the title song "Beauty and the Beast" as well as three Grammy Awards. For "The Little Mermaid," Menken received two Academy Awards® and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Score and Best Song ("Under the Sea") and two Grammy Awards. With lyricist Jack Feldman he has written "My Christmas Tree" for "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" and the songs for the live-action musical feature "Newsies." The composer's score for "Life with Mikey" featured two songs, "Cold Enough To Snow" with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a title song with lyrics by Jack Feldman. Additional credits include the score for the ABC miniseries "Lincoln" which was broadcast in December, 1992, and the music and lyrics for the "Rocky V" theme song "The Measure of a Man" recorded by Elton John.
With Howard Ashman, Menken received the New York Drama Critic's Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critic's Circle Award and the London Evening Standard Award for Best Musical for "Little Shop of Horrors" and an Oscar® nomination for Best Song ("Mean Green Mother From Outer Space") from the film version of "Little Shop of Horrors." In 1983, the composer received the BMI Career Achievement Award for his body of work in musical theater including "Little Shop of Horrors," "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater," "Real Life Funnies," "Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy" (produced in workshop as "Battle of the Giants"), "Patch, Patch, Patch" and contributions to numerous reviews including "Personals" and "Diamonds." In 1987 a musical adaptation of "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" with lyrics by David Spencer was produced in Philadelphia. In 1992 the WPA Theatre in New York produced Menken's "Weird Romance" with lyrics also by David Spencer.
In December, 1994, Menken debuted a brand new stage musical based on the Dickens classic, "A Christmas Carol," with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. The show proved to be a great success and has become a perennial New York holiday event.
Menken grew up in New Rochelle, New York and developed an interest in music at an early age. He studied piano and violin through his high school years, but it wasn't until after his graduation from New York University with a liberal arts degree (and a brief dalliance with pre-med) that he decided to focus on a career in music. While attending the Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop at BMI, he developed a passion for musical theater. This experience led to an intense personal learning and growth period for him as a musician and eventually resulted in his meeting Howard Ashman.
At this time, Menken was working primarily as a songwriter who performed frequently in local clubs and had an active career writing and singing commercial jingles. Several shows that he had written for had been successfully showcased, but not yet produced. His first collaboration with Ashman was in 1979 on the WPA production of "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater," which was subsequently well received in its off-Broadway debut.
Menken and his wife Janis, a former professional ballet dancer, reside in upstate New York with their two daughters.
