[image: Alan Menken, by  Disney | ABC Television Group, License CC]

One of the biggest inspirations there is in the musical theater community is Alan Menken. Menken is an American musical theater and film score composer, songwriter and pianist. He is best known for the music he has produced for the Walt Disney Company. He is responsible for composing the magical scores of films like The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and many more.

Making of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” Studio Cast Recording.

I admire Alan Menken a lot. I wanted to talk about him because he also struggled to find his path, as many of us do, and it gave me hope. I recently found out that his first instinct was not to study music. On the contrary, he enrolled in New York University as a pre-med student with hopes of becoming a dentist just like his father. He later on discovered that that was not his thing and went down to receive a degree in musicology from the Steinhardt School at New York University. He struggled to get there, but at the end he followed his true passion. It was thanks to this decision that he composed most of the songs that practically defined our childhood.

This blog post is rather short, but I just wanted to let you know, you are on the correct path, your path. It may feel at times like you’re not achieving anything, but believe me, every step you take towards your goal is an achievement in itself. Don’t give up, great things are yet to come.

Here is a trailer of The Hunchback of Notre Dame The Musical just because I love it too much.