Pecker is a key witness in the case against the former US president, who is accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payment
The New York-born Menken, who gets his star on the Walk of Fame on Wednesday, spoke with The Hollywood Reporter.
The Hollywood Reporter: You grew up in a house with lots of music — your dentist dad would play show tunes — but you initially studied pre-med at New York University. How did you escape that?
Alan Menken: I was kind of an ADD kid; it was hard for me to concentrate in school. Being a composer has been a godsend for me on a personal level. But all the men in my family were dentists, so—
THR: So of course you wrote about a sadistic dentist who dies from ingesting nitrous oxide in “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Menken: I sent the cassette tape of the score to my parents. Mom called and said, “Honey, we heard the tape. OK.” Click! I called back and they were upset: My father was the president of a New York chapter of analgesists, and they promoted nitrous oxide. You can imagine how they felt.
THR: What would your musical career have been like if Disney had never called?
Menken: There’s an alternate universe where I could have been a successful singer-songwriter, along the lines of Billy Joel, Elton John or James Taylor. But after ¨ûmarrying his wife¨ü Janis, our life together was important to me, and touring was not something I embraced.
THR: Do you think the kids who first listened to your Disney films are the ones behind the resurgence of musicals now on TV and in the movies?
Menken: It’s amazing. It’s not easy to do musicals well. But there’s a generation now that can understand them, and Howard’s 'lyricist Howard Ashman' and my work had something to do with that.
THR: Should “Glee” do a whole Menken/Ashman-themed show?
Menken: I’m not a big TV watcher, to be honest. I watch the news or a Yankee game. A lot of musical theater writers — musicals may not be their favorite things. There might be nitpicking, or jealousy. It’s not an escape if you work in the field.
THR: Does that mean writing a musical isn’t fun?
Menken: I don’t write songs for myself anymore. I only write songs on assignment. It’s purely a business, but it is still so important to me emotionally. The best parts about writing a show are ¨ûits¨ü first, second and 10th anniversaries. Everything else is relative levels of hell.
Pecker is a key witness in the case against the former US president, who is accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payment
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