Mel Leven
Mel Leven composer and lyricist, was born in Chicago on November 11, 1914. He began writing songs at an early age, but took a break in 1941 to serve in the U.S. Air Corps. One of Leven's assignments was in Nome, Alaska, teaching Russian pilots from Siberia about the instruments on P39 fighter planes.
After World War II, Leven settled in Los Angeles and returned to songwriting. During the 1950s, he wrote songs for the small animations studio, United Productions of America (UPA), which created the beloved Mr. Magoo cartoons. Leven also wrote "Every time" for Peggy Lee (which Jayne Mansfield sang in THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT) (1956), "Commoners Boogy" for the Andrew Sisters, "Are My Ears on Straight?," "Willy Claus," a song for the feature film SING BOY,SING (1957), several tunes for the short TREES AND JAMAICA DADDY (1958), and countless other songs for Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Les Brown, among others.
Taking notice of Leven's ubiquitous work, Walt Disney invited him to become part of his writing staff. Often collaborating with composer George Bruns, Leven wrote songs for the stop-action short NOAH'S ARK (1959) and the DISNEYLAND TV Series. When Disney asked him to write some songs about spotted dogs and a fur- loving villainess for 101 DALMATIANS (1961), Leven spent a week on a variety of tunes, but Disney picked the jazzy and now famous - song "Cruella De Vil" that Leven had composed in just a few minutes before their meeting. In the same year, he wrote the story and new lyrics to sixteen tunes for BABES IN TOYLAND (1961) which was nominated for an Academy Award® and helped popularize the all-music picture. Working with the well-known Disney producer Ward Kimball, Leven wrote two songs for the part animation, part documentary film IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BIRD, which won the 1969 Academy Award® for Best Short Subject.
He continued to write for film and television in the decades that followed, including the long-running children's educational show BIG BLUE MARBLE (for which he provided songs, stories, voice and ukelele), the tune for Butternut/Weber's Bread and voices of the Folgers® coffe bean, Creepy Crawlers"!, and Crackle from Kellogs® Rice Crispies.
Leven's work has won two Emmy® Awards, two Peabody Awards® and Cannes Film Festival Awards.
Mel Leven lives in Studio City, California and still actively writes comedic songs in the Big Band style.
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Did you see our latest news earlier in the week? Chitty flies again! We're thrilled to announce that rights to the full, 2-act version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang are now available without restrictions for performances scheduled to take place before 31st December 2023. Applications for 2024 are currently restricted to those in venues of less than 500 seats. Apply today! www.mtishows.co.uk/chitty-chitty-bang-bang #chittychittybangbang #newrelease #trulyscrumptious
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Xanadu is now available for licensing! You have to believe we are magic... Xanadu is a moving, electrifying tale of endless fun that will keep audiences in stitches, while the original, legendary chart-topping tunes lift them out of their seats. Find out more: www.mtishows.co.uk/xanadu #xanadu #newshow #amateurtheatre #licensing #olivianewtonjohn #strangemagic
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Bravo to everyone at @_spotlight.theatre who went Into the Woods at Nottingham Arts Theatre earlier in the month. These photos look great! Photo credit: Martin Holtom. #intothewoods #nottingham #amateurtheatre #amdram
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A huge congratulations to everyone at @green_room_productions on their hugely successful production of Sunshine on Leith. We really would have walked 500 miles to grab a ticket. #sunshineonleith #pottersbar #amateurtheatre #wyllyotts
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As schools across the UK and Europe wind down for the Summer holidays we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the incredible teachers everywhere who make musical theatre happen year after year. To those teachers we say: you are an inspiration! We had close to 100 of these incredible teachers take part in this years Junior Theatre Festival, so lets enjoy the special teacher number from that days awards ceremony. #teachers #jtf22 #musicaltheatre #schoolshow #inspiration #education #broadwayjr
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We love these production shots of Disneys The Little Mermaid JR from @pqanorthampton #merfolk #thelittlemermaidjr #performingarts #disney #broadwayjr
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Bravo to @curtaincallshrewsbury on their production of Roald Dahls Matilda the Musical JR. Theyre currently having the best time working on the show, and these wonderful photos prove it! Enjoy your final performances. #matildajr #broadwayjr #shrewsbury #roalddahl #youththeatre #maggots
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WHAT A PICTURE We'll definitely be sticking these in the family album A few snaps from @haslemereplayers dress rehearsal of KIPPS - The New Half a Sixpence Musical which runs at Haslemere Hall this week. Break a leg! #kipps #kippshalfasixpence #haslemere #haslemerehall #surreytheatre #surrey
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Do you love musicals and want to work at MTI? We're searching for a new Licensing Assistant / Receptionist. The successful candidate will be required to work from our newly refurbished office in London at 12-14 Mortimer Street, W1T 3JJ. The core duties/responsibilities will include: Reception duties: * answering a busy telephone switchboard * greeting all visitors to the office Amateur Licensing support: * show availability requests * answering basic enquiries both via phone and in email * general administrative support as required Professional Licensing support: * general enquiries * generation of invoices as per instructions from the Professional Licensing team * vetting of foreign language translations The successful candidate will have a keen interest in musical theatre (on or off stage) and have excellent administrative skills. For full details visit: https://www.mtishows.co.uk/.../job-vacancy-licensing... #vacancy #licensing #receptionist #job #musicals #opportunity
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JTF is making the news! @skynews @fyi_skykids came to Birmingham last month to share the power of jazz hands and spirit fingers with a wider audience. The JTF piece will air Saturday at 10:30 and 16:30 and then on Sunday at 10:30. We can't wait! Check out this sneak peak, which follows Timi from The British Theatre Academy. #jtf22 #news #jazzhands #broadwayjr
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