Alan Menken News & Discussion

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Disney Duster
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Post by Disney Duster »

Aw that's really very sad. But now he's so much more successful and great than any of those guys. :)

So I saw Sister Act. It was...ummm...yea...nooo...

From the beginning I didn't think it was a good idea. Now, it had like 3, 4, or maybe 5 *but I really don't think that many) good songs, mainly "Take Me to Heaven", Deloris' song about being fabulous whatever the title is, the song when the convent learns to sing music well, and finally the song I believe is titled "Sister Act", and I really liked when she sang that song and Deloris couldn't stay away from the convent and how they worked the words "sister act" into it, but probably the most memorable thing for me from the show was the lyrics "if we're only so so, you're not gonna know so!'" referring to guys seducing nuns...yea lol. And the set was really good and amazing, except for the gaudy and blasphemous pieces, but it all moved and was put together well.

Raven Symone was Deloris when I went, she's still there now. I was excited to see her, and I felt like she made it out of Disney Cheapness I mean Disney Channel mediocrity into actual stardom...but I don't know. She's talented and all but I either have too high standards or she really was just rather underwhelming. She didn't make the show a smash but the problem is really more the show itself. I don't think it's very good, I don't think it should've been done except to slake curiosity and opportunity, and the show really actually offends me and makes me feel bad.

The end message was summed up with Raven being rather unsettlingly convincing as she says the greatness of raising your voice is only being human while Mother Superior hopes she finds it to be God before finally saying it's both, which sounded nice until she sang about how all that matters is love and religion is just a form of it. I get it, seriously I get it, it sounds like a really great sentiment that all humans just love and religion is just one different way. But the song was making it sound like atheism was the winner and religion was just love, that it wasn't actually God and that believing in God didn't matter, it's just something to do.

Yea yea I know, hardly any of you are religious and you probably think I'm too easily offended yet again, but the whole musical was treating religion not as something sacred to others but kinda just a thing to do that doesn't matter and you could even mess with it by making a giant Mary statue that glitters and revolves. I dunno. The show put a really bad taste in my mouth. There was however one message I thought was really good in the show, and that was the one about how Deloris didn't need to become a big star loved by everyone, she knew she was a star doing what she loved with her sisters (the nuns) who loved her. It wasn't done the best because she went on to try and become a star anyway later and would only visit the nuns sometimes, but that message was great, because there's so many people who watch Broadway shows and unfortunately there dreams of becoming stars like the people on Broadway cannot come true for everyone, but they don't need it to to be stars. :)

If I hadn't found out that Alan Menken is...agnostic and doesn't seem to prescribe to any religion (or care about any religion?!) the show would have really surprised me with his making a musical of King David and I thought other religious types of shows.

I don't remember the movie all that well because I saw it when I was younger, but I think regardless of being religious or not, most people would say that this musical is no great one and the movie was a looot better.
Last edited by Disney Duster on Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Sotiris »

Alan Menken has won the Tony for Best Score for Newsies! Congratulations Alan! :clap: :party:

Newsies has also won the Tony for Best Choreography.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQequvsrJdY[/youtube]
Last edited by Sotiris on Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by DisneyJedi »

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V3YMRp36Ad8?rel=0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

To put it in a different set of words, I am happy. :)

Goodness, I forgot the show was on! I gotta go watch it!!! :shock:
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

I forgot about this show the other night, too. I only managed to catch the last 20 minutes. :cry: Still, congratulations for Alan Menken! :D
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Post by Prince Edward »

So happy for Alan! He deserves to be a Tony winner:)
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Post by Sotiris »

With his newest hardware to go with his eight Oscars and 11 Grammy Awards, Menken laughed while saying he's "not really" trying to join the unofficial EGOT club, whose members have won at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award for television, music, movies and theater, respectively.

"Television is on my radar for other reasons, because it probably is the most popular medium right now as far as what people will see," he added. "Many of us have tried to develop musical TV series and things like that, so it's always been of interest to me, but as a lifestyle choice, it's a difficult one. I'm not sure how I'd have an opportunity to win an Emmy, but if it does happen, that's cool."
Source: http://newyork.newsday.com/entertainmen ... -1.3775907


I really wish ABC would have picked Menken's TV series. I hope they will reconsider.
Last edited by Sotiris on Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Sotiris »

Today is Alan Menken's birthday!

Happy birthday, Alan! :party:
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Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

A very happy birthday to one of my favorite composers :D :pink: :party:
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Post by Prince Edward »

Happy birthday to my favorite composer! I hope we'll get to see more Broadway versions of his Disney movies and that he will score new Disney movies in the future.
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Post by WonderNeverOz »

Happy Birthday to one of the most amazing people on earth!!! :)

I hope "Love Can't Be Denied" will be included in the ending credits of 'Frozen" at least...
I love that song :/
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

Happy birthday! :D I do hope he's involved in future projects for Disney. As far as I know, he's not going to be involved with <strike>Snow Queen</strike>Frozen even though it's a musical, which is disappointing.
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Post by Prince Edward »

Disney's Divinity wrote:Happy birthday! :D I do hope he's involved in future projects for Disney. As far as I know, he's not going to be involved with <strike>Snow Queen</strike>Frozen even though it's a musical, which is disappointing.
You are right, it is really disappointing. "Love Can't Be Denied" is great, you can hear the demo on Youtube. A strange move by Disney to replace Menken on this project, especially considering that Menken and Glenn Slater have been attached to it and written songs since the planned show in Disneyland Tokyo. But then again, Disney makes many strange moves... They should think about Menken's age, he is not getting any younger, and they should use him while he still is active as composer.
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Post by Atlantica »

I hope this isn't another 'Princess & the Frog' fiasco, where Menken was 'supposed' to be doing the music, then got swapped Mr Newman, who then delivered one of the weaker Disney Classic scores/songs set.
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Post by DisneyFan09 »

atlanticaunderthesea wrote:I hope this isn't another 'Princess & the Frog' fiasco, where Menken was 'supposed' to be doing the music, then got swapped Mr Newman, who then delivered one of the weaker Disney Classic scores/songs set.
Don't take it personally, but I'm personally a little tired of everyone bashing the songs of Princess and the Frog. I'm not a fan of Newman's music at all, but I really enjoyed the songs for PatF. I'm a fan of Menken's work and with the exception of "I See the Lights", I thought his work for "Tangled" was quite dissapointing.
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Post by Sotiris »

atlanticaunderthesea wrote:I hope this isn't another 'Princess & the Frog' fiasco, where Menken was 'supposed' to be doing the music, then got swapped Mr Newman
It's even worse. At least Menken got substituted by Newman early on, at the very early stages of development of TPatF. However, with Snow Queen, not only did Menken work on the Tokyo DisneySea stage version but also on the hand-drawn animated adaptation. There was really no reason to get him off the project since when Snow Queen was revived it remained under the same creative team and with the same filmmakers of the previous hand-drawn version. I suspect that the only real changes were the title and the animation medium.
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Post by Atlantica »

Sotiris wrote:
atlanticaunderthesea wrote:I hope this isn't another 'Princess & the Frog' fiasco, where Menken was 'supposed' to be doing the music, then got swapped Mr Newman
It's even worse. At least Menken got substituted by Newman early on, at the very early stages of development of TPatF. However, with Snow Queen, not only did Menken work on the Tokyo DisneySea stage version but also on the hand-drawn animated adaptation. There was really no reason to get him off the project since when Snow Queen was revived it remained under the same creative team and with the same filmmakers of the previous hand-drawn version. I suspect that the only real changes were the title and the animation medium.
Then it certainly begs the question; WHY the change. It makes no logical sense, though I suppose they must have their reasons.

I'm disputing that Randy Newman isn't good; but his score and songs didn't fit TPATF, in my own opinion. I'm not saying that as fact, as my opinion. To me, he isnt a 'Disney Classics' composer. I felt there was no clear theme throughout the entire film; I could be any old generic score. Whereas if you pick say Hercules, you can clearly hear the theme song of the film (Go The Distance) threaded through the entire score. With superior songs.

And I just feel this will be a mistake just as much a TPATF was. If not more so, as you said, because he is so involved already. It can't be that Disney is tiring of him; he just won them a Grammy for goodness sake!
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Post by DisneyFan09 »

Sotiris wrote:It's even worse. At least Menken got substituted by Newman early on, at the very early stages of development of TPatF. However, with Snow Queen, not only did Menken work on the Tokyo DisneySea stage version but also on the hand-drawn animated adaptation. There was really no reason to get him off the project since when Snow Queen was revived it remained under the same creative team and with the same filmmakers of the previous hand-drawn version. I suspect that the only real changes were the title and the animation medium.
So I guess you disliked the songs from The Princess and the Frog as well, Sotiris?
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Post by Sotiris »

DisneyFan09 wrote:So I guess you disliked the songs from The Princess and the Frog as well, Sotiris?
No, I actually thought the soundtrack for TPatF was quite decent. I liked Almost There, Friends on the Other Side, and Down in New Orleans (Reprise).

My objection against Menken's removal from the projects he was initially assigned to has nothing to do with Newman or with Robert Lopez. It's a matter of professional courtesy, respect, and appreciation for a person who has contributed so much to Disney. Disney is not treating Menken right lately.
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Post by estefan »

Well, I personally think Ropert Lopez is the Broadway song-writer on-par with the Menken-Ashman team-up. Oh, yes, I find him to be that good. As a huge fan of Book of Mormon, Avenue Q and his work on Winnie the Pooh, I love that Lopez will taking on another Disney musical.

Menken got replaced before animation begun? Well, there have been composers who have had their entire scores scrapped at the very last minute mere months before a film's release date (e.g. Howard Shore on King Kong, Marc Shaiman on The Emperor's New Groove and Team America). Alan Menken got off light.
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Post by Sotiris »

estefan wrote:Menken got replaced before animation begun? Well, there have been composers who have had their entire scores scrapped at the very last minute mere months before a film's release date (e.g. Howard Shore on King Kong, Marc Shaiman on The Emperor's New Groove and Team America). Alan Menken got off light.
So, just because other composers have been treated worse that somehow justifies Disney's behavior towards Menken? What kind of reasoning is that? :roll:
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