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Howard Sings Ashman
''Howard Sings Ashman'' is a two-disc album compiled by PS Classics as part of their ''Songwriter Series''. The album features Howard Ashman singing selections from his musicals, including ''God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater'' (1979), ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1982), ''Smile'' (1986), ''The Little Mermaid'' (1989), ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1991) and ''Aladdin'' (1992). Production The album is produced with the assistance and cooperation of Howard's sister Sarah Ashman Gillespie, and his life partner William Lauch. According to PS Classics website, the album "captures the diverse and memorable accomplishments of one of the geniuses of the contemporary American musical theatre."''Howard Sings Ashman''
psclassics.com, accessed October 23, 2019
The album consists of private demo recordings of Howard Ashman. The first disc has 18 tr ...
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Howard Ashman
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probably in some cases a confusion with the Old Norse cognate ''Haward'' (''Hávarðr''), which means "high guard" and as a surname also with the unrelated Hayward. In some rare cases it is from the Old English ''eowu hierde'' "ewe herd". In Anglo-Norman the French digram ''-ou-'' was often rendered as ''-ow-'' such as ''tour'' → ''tower'', ''flour'' (western variant form of ''fleur'') → ''flower'', etc. (with svarabakhti). A diminutive is "Howie" and its shortened form is "Ward" (most common in the 19th century). Between 1900 and 1960, Howard ranked in the U.S. Top 200; between 1960 and 1990, it ranked in the U.S. Top 400; between 1990 and 2004, it ranked in the U.S. Top 600. People with the given name Howard or its variants include: G ...
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Alan Menken
Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores and songs for '' The Little Mermaid'' (1989), '' Beauty and the Beast'' (1991), '' Aladdin'' (1992), and '' Pocahontas'' (1995) have each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores and songs for ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986), ''Newsies'' (1992), '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1996), '' Hercules'' (1997), '' Home on the Range'' (2004), '' Enchanted'' (2007), '' Tangled'' (2010), and '' Disenchanted'' (2022), among others. His accolades include eight Academy Awards, becoming the second most prolific Oscar winner in the music categories after Alfred Newman (who has 9 Oscars) a Tony Award, eleven Grammy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. Menken is one of seventeen people to have won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony ("an EGOT"). He is the only person to have won a R ...
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Beauty And The Beast (Disney Song)
"Beauty and the Beast" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for the Disney animated feature film ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1991). The film's theme song, the Broadway-inspired ballad was first recorded by British-American actress Angela Lansbury in her role as the voice of the character Mrs. Potts, and essentially describes the relationship between its two main characters Belle and the Beast, specifically how the couple has learned to accept their differences and in turn change each other for the better. Additionally, the song's lyrics imply that the feeling of love is as timeless and ageless as a "tale as old as time". Lansbury's rendition is heard during the famous ballroom sequence between Belle and the Beast, while a shortened chorale version plays in the closing scenes of the film, and the song's motif features frequently in other pieces of Menken's film score. Lansbury was initially hesitant to record "Beauty and the Beast" because she felt ...
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Be Our Guest
"Be Our Guest" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Walt Disney Pictures' 30th animated feature film ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1991). Recorded by American actor Jerry Orbach and English actress Angela Lansbury as Lumière and Mrs. Potts, respectively, "Be Our Guest" is a large-scale Broadway-inspired musical number that takes place during the first half of ''Beauty and the Beast'', performed by the castle's staff of enchanted objects in an elaborate attempt to welcome Belle. Menken initially intended for the melody of "Be Our Guest" to be temporary but was ultimately unable to compose a satisfying one with which to replace it. The song had originally been intended for Belle's father Maurice. However, "Be Our Guest" had to be entirely re-written as the story evolved in order to return its focus to Belle. "Be Our Guest" has garnered universal acclaim from both film and music critics who, in addition to dubbing the song a show-stopper, praised ...
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Poor Unfortunate Souls
"Poor Unfortunate Souls" is a song from the Walt Disney Pictures animated film '' The Little Mermaid''. Written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken and performed by Pat Carroll, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is sung to Princess Ariel by Ursula the Sea Witch (the first film's villainess). In a style that combines Broadway theatre with Burlesque, Ursula uses the song to seduce Ariel into trading her voice for the chance to temporarily become human. Howard Ashman recorded a version of the song with himself in the role of Ursula, to send to Carroll to convince her to take the role, which it did. This version was released in the four-CD set ''The Music Behind the Magic''. Carroll admits that she borrowed some of the inflections she used in the song from Ashman's performance, and that he had been delighted she had done so. "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is also noteworthy for Ursula's incantation at the end of the song actually being sung, rather than merely recited. Accompanied by Gothic or ...
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Under The Sea
"Under the Sea" is a song from Disney's 1989 animated film ''The Little Mermaid'', composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman. It is influenced by the calypso style of the Caribbean which originated in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as reggae, which originated in Jamaica. The song was performed in the film by Samuel E. Wright. The track won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1989, the first for a Disney film since "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from '' Mary Poppins'' in 1964. Additionally, the song won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media in 1991. The song is a plea by the crab Sebastian imploring Ariel to remain sea-bound, and resist her desire to become a human in order to spend her life with Prince Eric, with whom she has fallen in love. Sebastian warns of the struggles of human life, while at the same time expounding the benefits of a care-free life underwater. However, his plea falls on deaf ears, as Ariel leaves before the end of the song. ...
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Part Of Your World
"Part of Your World" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Disney's animated feature film '' The Little Mermaid'' (1989). Performed by American actress and singer Jodi Benson in the titular role as Ariel, a mermaid princess, "Part of Your World" is a power ballad in which the main character expresses her strong desire to become human; its lyrics use placeholder names in lieu of several human-related terms that would be unfamiliar to a mermaid. The film's theme song, "Part of Your World" is reprised by Ariel after she rescues Eric, a human prince with whom she has fallen in love, from drowning. Directly influenced by Broadway and musical theatre, Ashman strongly believed that ''The Little Mermaid'' would benefit from an "I Want" song – a musical number during which the main character sings about what they hope to accomplish by the end of their story. Directors Ron Clements and John Musker originally asked Ashman to write a song for Ariel ...
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Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. Hamlisch was one of only seventeen people to win Emmy, Grammy, Academy Awards, Oscar and Tony Awards, Tony awards. This collection of all four is referred to as an "EGOT". He is one of only two people (along with composer Richard Rodgers) to have won those four prizes and a Pulitzer Prize ("List of EGOT winners#PEGOT, PEGOT"). Early life Hamlisch was born in Manhattan, to Vienna, Viennese-born Jewish parents Lilly (née Schachter) and Max Hamlisch. His father was an accordionist and bandleader. Hamlisch was a child prodigy and, by age five, he began mimicking the piano music he heard on the radio. A few months before he turned seven, in 1951, he was accepted into what is now the Juilliard School#Pre-College Division, Juilliard School Pre-College Division.
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Aladdin (1992 Disney Film)
''Aladdin'' is a 1992 American animation, animated Musical film, musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 31st List of Walt Disney Animation Studios films, Disney animated feature film and the fourth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it is based on the Aladdin, Arabic folktale of the same name from the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. The film was produced and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements from a screenplay they co-wrote with the writing team of Ted Elliott (screenwriter), Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Featuring the voices of Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, and Jonathan Freeman (actor), Jonathan Freeman, the film follows the titular Aladdin (Disney character), Aladdin, an Arabs, Arabian street children, street urchin, who finds a magic lamp containing a Genie (Disney), genie. With the genie's help, Aladdin disguises himself as a wealthy prince and tr ...
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Musical Theater
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the musical theatre ...
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Beauty And The Beast (1991 Film)
''Beauty and the Beast'' is a 1991 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical romantic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The List of Walt Disney Animation Studios films, 30th Disney animated feature film and the third released during the Disney Renaissance period, it is based on the 1756 fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (who was only credited in the French dub), while also containing ideas from the 1946 French film Beauty and the Beast (1946 film), of the same name directed by Jean Cocteau. The film was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Don Hahn, from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton. ''Beauty and the Beast'' focuses on the relationship between the Beast (Disney), Beast (voice of Robby Benson), a prince who is magically transformed into a monster and his servants in ...
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The Little Mermaid (1989 Film)
''The Little Mermaid'' is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 28th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The film tells the story of a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him. ''The Little Mermaid'' was written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Musker and Howard Ashman, who also wrote the film's songs with Alan Menken. Menken also composed the film's score. The film stars the voices of Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, and Buddy Hackett. Walt Disney planned to put the story in a proposed package film containing Andersen's sto ...
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