<P> Director Bill Condon originally intended to include most songs from the Broadway musical adaptation of Beauty and the Beast in the remake . However, Disney ultimately decided to recruit composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice to write entirely new songs for the film instead . Original Beauty and the Beast composer Menken reunited with Rice, with whom he had previously collaborated on Disney's animated film Aladdin (1992), to write three new songs for the remake . Rice once again replaced original Beauty and the Beast lyricist Howard Ashman, who had passed away shortly before the animated film's release in 1991, similar to the way in which he replaced the lyricist to aid Menken in writing new material for the 1994 stage adaptation . Menken believes that the songs he and Rice had written for the stage musical would not have translated well to the screen due to structural differences between the two formats . </P> <P> In the original animated film, the Beast does little singing apart from a brief solo during "Something There" because Menken and Ashman had not been able to agree upon a suitable moment within the film during which the Beast could have performed his own song . However, Menken considered it imperative that the character sing a solo in both the stage and live - action adaptations because he believes the Beast is actually the story's protagonist "whose life has changed in the most dramatic way ." In the stage production, the Beast performs the ballad "If I Can't Love Her" after he frightens Belle away from the castle, wondering if he will ever be able to love anyone since he struggles to love her . Menken and Condon had deliberated whether or not the song should be re-used in the remake; despite Menken's strong attachment to "If I Can't Love Her", the musical number was ultimately omitted because it had been written specifically to conclude the first act of a Broadway musical . Screenwriter Stephen Chbosky had originally suggested that the character receive a new song to perform some time after he has saved Belle from the wolves . Due to the remake's three - act structure, Menken and Condon concluded that it would be best to replace "If I Can't Love Her" with a song that better depicts the Beast's feelings for Belle after he has finally learned to love her and realizes she is no longer his prisoner, while accepting the grimm reality that releasing her would ultimately decrease his chances of becoming human again . Rice, who co-wrote "If I Can't Love Her" with Menken, further convinced the composer to substitute "If I Can't Love Her" with a more appropriate song, joking, "it would be like writing' Don't Cry for Me Brazil'," referring to "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", a song he famously wrote for the stage musical Evita . </P> <P> Originally entitled "For Evermore", "Evermore" was written by composer Menken and lyricist Rice . The last of the three original songs written for the remake, "Evermore" was completed considerably late into production after the filmmakers finally agreed that the Beast should perform his own . Written in Spring 2015 in London, England, Menken quickly composed its melody before Rice contributed lyrics revolving around the Beast releasing Belle . Actor Dan Stevens, who portrays the Beast and performs "Evermore", had little singing experience prior to being cast in the film . Before "Evermore" was written, Condon informed Stevens that he would be singing a new song in his role as Beast . Having not sung professionally since childhood, Stevens was required to retrain his singing voice, the process of which he found challenging . To prepare for the recording, Stevens received extensive vocal coaching from vocal coach Ann - Marie Speed in addition to working closely with Menken . Stevens first recorded a "guide track" for "Evermore" before he and Menken revisited the track to modify specific lines and notes . To make the actor sound more "beast - like", sound engineers digitally modified Stevens' voice, which Menken produced himself . Auto - Tune was used to make Stevens' voice sound lower and heavier . Menken continued making minor changes to the song well into production . On recording a new song, Stevens said, "the pressure's sort of off--but it's also on--because it doesn't have to sound like it did before, but it should sound good enough to sit alongside the music that's already pretty great ." Stevens agreed that the song is "a big, romantic, soaring number" about the Beast lamenting "I've fallen in love with her, and now she's buggered off, woe is me", while "If I Can't Love Her" is "How am I going to fall in love with her?" Replacing "If I Can't Love Her" with "Evermore" helped make the songwriters eligible for an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song . </P> <P> One of at least nine significant ways in which the remake deviates from its source material, "Evermore" is among the film's songs that emphasize the sadness and loneliness of both the Beast and Belle's situations . Occurring approximately two - thirds into the film, the song assumes a role that was originally occupied by the song "If I Can't Love Her" in the Broadway musical, identified by Fred Hawson of ABS - CBN News as "a grand moving solo" during which the Beast sincerely expresses his undying feelings for Belle . In Beauty and the Beast, "Evermore" appears as a solo performed by the Beast shortly before "The Mob Song" as the film approaches its dramatic climax . After the Beast and Belle (Emma Watson) share a dance in the castle's ballroom to Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson) singing "Beauty and the Beast", the couple has a conversation during which the Beast learns how much Belle actually misses her father, Maurice (Kevin Kline). Finally admitting that Belle is no longer his prisoner, the character sings "Evermore" shortly after he releases the heroine from the castle, insisting that she return to her village and protect Maurice from Gaston (Luke Evans). Believing that Belle has been lost to him forever, the Beast is heartbroken by the character's departure and laments his misfortune by performing "Evermore", accepting that releasing his former prisoner makes breaking the enchantress' spell more difficult, even impossible . Serving as a culmination of both the Beast's personal and emotional journeys, Tracy Goldman of The Cornell Daily Sun observed that the song "adds more depth to the character" by "highlighting the changes he goes through throughout the movie ." </P>

Who is the singing voice of the beast