Holiday Dinner 2019

The 31st annual SCL Holiday Dinner in Los Angeles was held on Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at the Skirball Cultural Center’s Ahmanson Ballroom. At this event, the SCL honored the 2019 Lifetime Achievement award recipient, composer and songwriter Alan Menken.

SCL Advisory Board member Alan Menken’s music, songs and scores have become an integral part of the fabric of our lives since his first works were produced nearly 40 years ago. His stage musicals include God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy, Real Life Funnies, Little Shop of Horrors, Kicks, The Dream on Royal Street, Beauty and The Beast, A Christmas Carol, Weird Romance, King David, The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Leap of Faith, Newsies, Aladdin, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, A Bronx Tale, and Hercules.

Song and score credits for film musicals include The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast (Animated), Newsies, Aladdin (Animated), Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, The Shaggy Dog, Home on the Range, Enchanted, Tangled, Mirror Mirror, Beauty and the Beast (Live Action), Howard, and Aladdin (Live Action). Individual songs for film include “The Measure of a Man” (Rocky V), “My Christmas Tree” (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York), “Cold Enough to Snow” (Life With Mikey), “Winter Light” (Noel), “Star Spangled Man” (Captain America: First Avenger), and “The Great Beyond” (Sausage Party). Television credits include writing songs for Sesame Street, the ABC mini-series Lincoln, a musical episode of The Neighbors, the ABC series Galavant, and the Disney Channel’s Tangled: The Series.

His chart topping songs have included “Beauty and the Beast,” “A Whole New World,” “Colors of the Wind,” and “Go the Distance.” Winner of the 2012 Tony®, and Drama Desk awards for his score for Newsies, he has won more Academy Awards® than any other living individual, including 8 Oscars® with 4 for Best Score and 4 for Best Song, 11 Grammys®, 7 Golden Globes®, the London Evening Standard Award, the Olivier Award, and the Outer Critics Circle Award. Other notable achievements include induction as a member in the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, the lifetime achievement acknowledgement of the Johnny Mercer Award, Billboard’s number one single (“A Whole New World”), and number one album (“Pocahontas”). In 2001 he received the distinction of being named a Disney Legend. He was also awarded two doctorates in Fine Arts from New York University and the North Carolina School of the Arts, and in 2010 received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.