Alan Menken: Last News

Melissa McCarthy is living the fever dream! The 52-year-old actress is letting fans in on the musical process of becoming Ursula in Disney's live-action film in a new behind-the-scenes featurette. «Getting to sing 'Poor Unfortunate Souls,' I mean, it is a fever dream,» McCarthy says in the clip. «I went to rehearsals for months and months, and I wanted to do that music and the character proud.»The A-list star suggests that her character may have missed her calling as a sultry chanteuse.

Jon Burlingame Despite all the musical superstars who entered this year’s Emmy competition, only one – Ed Sheeran – managed to score when the 75th annual Emmy Award nominations were announced Wednesday. Sheeran was nominated (along with co-writers Max Martin and Foy Vance) for the song “A Beautiful Game” for the season 3 finale of “Ted Lasso,” one of two songs from the popular Apple TV+ series that made it into the music-and-lyrics category. Emmy’s 550-member music peer group ignored the original songs entered by Dolly Parton, David Byrne, Steve Martin, Kid Cudi, Donald Glover and Lainey Wilson, as well as those from such Oscar-winning tunesmiths as Alan Menken, Steven Schwartz, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

Marta Balaga In Vicky Jenson’s upcoming 3D animation “Spellbound,” the hills – of the magical kingdom of Lumbria – are alive with the sound of music. Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman, taking on royals-turned-monsters, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, André De Shields and Nathan Lane are part of the voice cast as well. “Why a musical? People always ask that. In theatre, they say that when emotions are too big to speak about, you sing about them. And when they are too big to sing about, you dance,” she told the Annecy audience on Tuesday. “Emotions are big in this story. They are funny, exuberant, angry and heartbreaking.”

The Little Mermaid 's live-action remake of the 1989 animated classic has once again faced criticism, this time for its makeup choices. Disney received backlash when a timelapse video showcasing Ursula's makeup was shared, drawing negative comments from drag queens.The clip, posted on Twitter last week, sparked a debate among drag performers who argued that Melissa McCarthy's makeup should have been done by an LGBTQ+ artist.

The makeup artist behind Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula transformation is clapping back at critics.

 gives audiences a mix of their favorite classics with modern tweaks, including three new songs and several updates to the soundtrack's iconic tunes.The music reflects the film's refreshed story, which director Rob Marshall, producer John DeLuca, and screenwriter David Magee have explained they tweaked to implement specific changes showcasing a more modern Disney princess, addressing criticism that the original film featured a young woman who was too wrapped up in a man, and giving Ariel more agency.The soundtrack features the vocal talents of the film's new cast, including GRAMMY-nominated singer Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid, Princess Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton, with Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.Lin-Manuel Miranda, who teamed up with legendary composer-songwriter Alan Menken to write the film's new songs, previously told ET that «getting to write music for these characters that are probably the reason I started writing musicals in the first place, was actually easier than I thought.»«But the hardest part was my own intimidation working with Alan Menken, and that was entirely self-imposed,» acknowledged Miranda, who also serves as a producer on the film, alongside Marc Platt. «But when it came to how these characters speak and what they say, I've known that all my life.

Disney’s remake of The Little Mermaid has been released – check it out below.Directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago), the live-action remake stars Halle Bailey as Ariel, alongside Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle and Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder.Other cast members include Javier Bardem as King Triton, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula and Noma Dumezweni as new character Queen Selina, who is Eric’s mother.Alan Menken, who scored and co-wrote songs for the 1989 original, returned to compose the soundtrack for the remake. Along with reworking original classics, Menken co-wrote four new songs with Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In The Heights).Those four new songs include a rap-led track called ‘The Scuttlebutt’ for Awkwafina, a new song for Ariel titled ‘For The First Time’ and Prince Eric’s ‘Wild Uncharted Waters’.You can check out the full tracklist and stream the soundtrack below.Speaking to Deadline about adding a new song for Ariel, Marshall said: “Ariel had one song, and we had to hear more from her, even though she loses her voice to become a human.

One of the new songs added to The Little Mermaid for the new live-action film is “The Scuttlebutt,” which is performed by Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” is both a faithful and expanded adaptation of the studio’s 1989 animated classic, which featured an iconic voice performance from Jodie Benson as princess Ariel. News broke in April that director Rob Marshall and his “The Little Mermaid” team changed lyrics to classic songs such as “Kiss the Girl” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” to address matters of consent and more. The love story between Ariel and Prince Eric was also overhauled so that Ariel isn’t simply giving up her voice for the love of a man, which is perhaps the biggest criticism made these days against the 1989 original. “We’re talking about starting our [voiceover] sessions in ’86 [for the original film],” Benson recently told Entertainment Weekly, defending the new film’s decision to update “The Little Mermaid” to contemporary times. “It’s 2023, so we have to grow, we have to learn, we have to be aware of our surroundings.”

Disney is taking some heat following news yesterday that it will be removing dozens of titles from its Disney+ and Hulu streaming services on May 26, including some LGBTQ+-themed content.

casting Halle Bailey as a black Ariel, the new live-action remake of Disney’s 1989 animated classic will find the mermaid heroine having a “more grown-up and mature” relationship with Prince Eric, according to his portrayer Jonah Hauer-King.That includes an update of Alan Menken’s “Kiss the Girl” lyrics so that it wouldn’t seem as if Eric was forcing himself on Ariel.“My understanding is that there were some feelings around consent and asking to kiss someone, which makes total sense to me,” Hauer-King, 27, told the Hollywood Reporter.Having witnessed the racist backlash that Bailey faced for playing Ariel, the London native said he does “not really understand what to make of it.”“Rob [Marshall, the director] and the producers and Disney didn’t approach this film and this casting with any kind of agenda — they just wanted to cast the person who was best for the role,” said Hauer-King.“Ultimately, you want someone who has the best voice and the best spirit and the most charisma, charm and humor and best acting talent, and that’s Halle,” he concluded.Hauer-King — whose credits include the 2019 film “A Dog’s Way Home” and the BBC drama “World on Fire” — initially auditioned for “The Little Mermaid” as just a “fun experience.” But after seven months of auditions, he scored his own casting coup, beating out none other than Harry Styles for the coveted role.“He’s pretty cool and amazingly talented, so yeah, it was cool to be mentioned in the same breath,” he said of the “As It Was” singer, who talked with Marshall about playing Eric.But it was Hauer-King who ended up going through three months of rehearsals for the part, learning to ride horses, work with dogs, scuba dive, row and operate a horse carriage“I’ve never done so

Lorraine Kelly has broken her silence in 'rift' claims between Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. The presenter crossed over the pair live in the This Morning studio on Monday (May 15) as they appeared on screen for the first time since reports suggested the daytime show's hosts are 'barely speaking' behind the scenes.

This Morning viewers were left using the same one word to describe Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield's first appearance on TV since the latter issued a statement on their relationship following 'rift' claims.

A body language expert has kept a close eye on Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield as they made their first appearance together on TV since claims of a 'rift'. The presenting duo were back fronting This Morning as normal on Monday (May 15) despite claims the pair are not getting on behind the scenes.

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield returned to host This Morning today, as reports of a "feud" between the formerly close friends continue to swirl. Over the last few days, reports have emerged that the pair are "barely speaking" off-camera, with all eyes on the duo as they hosted the ITV morning show together today.The pair put on a united front as they appeared side by side and made no reference to reports of a "feud." However, viewers at home took to social media to share their thoughts on today's on-screen atmosphere, with one tweeting: "Then atmosphere between the two hosts on #ThisMorning is awful but good viewing [laughing emoji]." While another added: "It’s the body language, forced smiles and laughs #ThisMorning".

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the many Disney classics set for a live-action adaptation.

A new stage musical based on the classic Nancy Drew adventure book series is in the works from Little Mermaid composer Alan Menken, Legally Blonde lyricist Nell Benjamin, book by two-time Oscar winner Sarah Kernochan and direction by frequent Stephen Sondheim collaborator James Lapine.

Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” starring Halle Bailey. With the film’s Los Angeles premiere now concluding, first reactions to the musical have begun to hit social media. Ahead of its May 26 debut in theaters, Disney unveiled footage of “The Little Mermaid” at last month’s CinemaCon in Las Vegas, showing an early glimpse at Melissa McCarthy singing “Poor Unfortunate Souls” as Ursula. Variety also reported that director Rob Marshall and his husband, producer John DeLuca, held a private screening of the film, with a guest list including Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Matt Damon and Ben Platt. The star-studded audience apparently applauded after each musical number and continued to rave during a post-screening reception.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor The excitement and buzz continues to build for “The Little Mermaid.” A source tells me that director Rob Marshall and husband, producer John DeLuca, hosted a private screening of Disney’s live adaptation of the 1989 animated classic on Sunday night at New York’s Whitby Hotel. The guest list of about 80 people included Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, Matt Damon and his family, Emily Mortimer, Ben Platt and his “Parade” co-star Micaela Diamond, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Bob Balaban and Lynn Grossman, Diane and Brian Sutherland, and Scott Ellis. The film’s composer Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who co-wrote three new songs for the movie, were also there.

Halle Bailey‘s “Part of Your World” is finally here!

Melissa McCarthy looked to her origins performing in New York City under the drag name Miss Y as her inspiration for her Ursula on The Little Mermaid.