A biography for Alan Menkenhasn’t been written yet.
“I have lots of personal feelings of my own, but at this stage in my life and career, I'm very much driven by assignment.”
“Most successful musicals need to attach themselves to something bigger than themselves, a concept that will make people feel immediately connected to it.”
“For a while now, I try to ignore the hoopla, because if you buy into that, you have to buy into the criticism. All you can do is put your work out there and move on; you just never know what will come.”
“What I look for in a partner is a skill, a voice of their own so I have a strength to go up against. They definitely have to be able to get out of their own way. I can't take somebody being precious about their work.”
“Music is a gestalt. Songs are a life force and they have specific vocabulary to them. You hear a few notes, and they take you into a world of association.”
“Songs should have an infectious melody and rhythm.”
“I have the ability to clear the decks and focus on what's happening in the moment. And I get to spend my life doing what I love to do.”
“Whatever I gain from writing lyrics, I feel I lose a little bit for the musical aspect by having that lyrical burden on me. But when I'm liberated from worrying about the words, frankly, I feel I'm a better composer.”
“I always wanted to be a composer, and I sort of went in to NYU as pre-med because I just thought, 'Well... who actually becomes a composer?'”
“TV is a medium where I've been an outsider for the most part.”
“I'm a very style-driven composer, and I like to give every project its own unique stamp.”
“A villain number is a very valuable thing to have, but if you look at most musicals, one way or another there's an antagonist number.”
“Movies, you can insulate yourself more from audience, to a degree, and just look at box office. In theater, the audience is a very dynamic part of your process, and you feel much more exposed.”
“I always wanted to have a villain song for Hades in 'Hercules,' but I couldn't figure out how we would have Hades sing.”
“Truth be told, of course, what I enjoy most is reinventing myself and doing new projects where I work in new genres, or I get to find what the voice of a particular musical is.”
“Howard Ashman was an amazing lyricist and an amazing artist.”
“I've been very fortunate as a composer to be involved with projects that have really propelled my scores forward. I'm very proud of it.”
“When Peter Schneider first approached me about adapting 'Sister Act' for the stage, it wasn't a slam dunk to say yes.”
“You're creating a score that has to have an emotional and story logic to it. You want a dramatic arc. You want all the songs to push story forward. That's the same whether it's for stage or film or television or whatever.”
“I always felt great about what I wrote for 'Newsies,' but 'Newsies' was a total flop.”