American composer Alan Irwin Menken was born on July 22, 1949, in Manhattan, New
York. He developed a passion for composing from a young age. In 1979, he gained
recognition for composing the music for a stage adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's
novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, sparking a fruitful collaboration with
playwright Howard Ashman on the musical Little Shop of Horrors. The musical
turned out to be his breakthrough, setting a box office record for the
highest-grossing Off-Broadway show of all time. In 1987, Alan Menken and Howard
Ashman were recruited by Walt Disney Studios ...