Alan Menken wrote the music for the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast.
The stage musical adapted Disney's 1991 animated film and retained songs from the movie. Menken wrote the original film music with Howard Ashman, who died before the animated film was released. For the stage version, additional lyrics were supplied by Tim Rice, and new songs were added to expand the characters and story for live performance.
Menken's score allowed the musical to preserve familiar numbers while giving Belle, the Beast, and supporting characters more opportunities to sing. The production opened on Broadway in 1994 and became one of the first major Disney stage adaptations.
The lyricist and composer credits are often mixed up: Tim Rice wrote lyrics for the stage additions, while Menken wrote the music. Stephen Schwartz and Andrew Lloyd Webber were not the composers of this musical.