Despite spending my childhood, adolescence & young adulthood as an A+ berserk Musical Theatre Queen, living & breathing musicals, collecting the original cast albums for the most obscure shows: Something’s Afoot, Allegro, Salad Days, Dear World, Kean, Goldilocks, The Rothschilds, Two By Two, It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s Superman, Subways Are For Sleeping, The Robber Bridegroom, 70, Girls, 70, Smile, The Golden Apple, The Apple Tree, Juno… I could go on & on.
But, I got off that Musical Theatre ride in the early 1980s. I was less than enchanted with the offerings; I didn’t move well into the Cats & Miss Saigon era. I found more enjoyment in appearing in a musical than listening to one. My personal listening taste moved towards Elvis Costello, The Police & The Clash & away from Sondheim.
The big exception to my new frame of mind was Little Shop Of Horrors from 1982. I listened to this show until the LP was worn through. I knew every song from the score & was convinced that I could play any of the roles. I always wanted to do Somewhere That’s Green in my act, but never got the chance to work it up. It remains a favorite musical of mine, certainly in the top 10 of all time.
I honor lyricists on my little spot on the Internet & Howard Ashman is one of the best. Despite having once made a good chunk of my living from doing voice-overs, I am not a fan of animated films. Ashman collaborated with his artistic partner- Alan Menken on several notable animated features for Disney, Ashman writing the lyrics & Menken composing the scores.
Howard Ashman first worked with Alan Menken on a 1979 musical adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. They next collaborated on Little Shop of Horrors with Ashman as director, lyricist, & librettist. Ashman left the team once, as director, lyricist & bookwriter for the 1986 Broadway musical, Smile with music by Marvin Hamlisch.
Menken & Ashman would go on to win 2 Grammys, 2 Golden Globes & 2 Oscars for songs from. Just days after he won the Oscar for Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid, Ashman confided in Menken that he had AIDS. His illness was made him weaker every day, but Ashman never stopped writing songs. He wrote the witty & warm lyrics for Beauty & The Beast, & turned out more songs for a 3rd Disney animated musical- Aladdin. Ashman’s last Academy Award in 1992 was awarded posthumously for Best Song. It was accepted by his long time partner, Bill Lauch.
Ashman died at the age of 40 in NYC, during the making of both Beauty & the Beast & Aladdin.
He was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 2001. Beauty & the Beast was dedicated: “To our Friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice & a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman 1950-1991”. His headstone reads "O that he would have but one more song to sing". Ashman would have been 61 years old today.
No comments:
Post a Comment