A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Howard Ashman moved to New York City in 1974 and began writing plays while working as an editor in a publishing house. His work attracted attention and he became WPA Theatre's artist director in 1977. In 1982, Ashman collaborated with composer Alan Menken on the musical Little Shop of Horrors, one of off-Broadway's highest-grossing musicals. The team of Ashman and Menken shifted their focus to movies, creating some of the songs for The Little Mermaid (1989). ...[Read Story]