A Change in Me
1998 song performed by Toni Braxton
"A Change in Me" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice for the musical Beauty and the Beast, a stage adaptation of Disney's 1991 animated film of the same name. The song was written specifically for American singer Toni Braxton when she joined the production to play the role of Belle in 1998, four years into the musical's run. Menken and Rice wrote "A Change in Me" to appease Braxton after Rice promised the singer, who was hesitant to sign her contract, that he would write an entirely new song for her to perform in the musical on the condition that she finally agree to play Belle.
Appearing during the show's second act, Belle sings "A Change in Me" to her father Maurice after reuniting with him to explain how much she has matured and changed for the better while she was imprisoned at the Beast's castle. Immediately popular among critics and audiences, the pop ballad has been positively received since Braxton debuted it, remaining part of the show's set list ever since. Actress Susan Egan, who originated the role of Belle in 1994, recorded the first studio version of "A Change in Me" in 2002 for her debut studio album So Far; her cover was the song's first English-language recording.
Background
Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice had already written six original songs for the stage adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, most of which focus on character development, including a solo for Belle entitled "Home". In July 1998, American R&B singer Toni Braxton entered final negotiations to make her Broadway debut as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, replacing actress Kim Huber in the role. Despite having initial reservations due to the singer's reputation as a sex symbol, director Robert Jess Roth eventually concluded that Braxton would offer an "interesting" interpretation of Belle after first meeting with her to discuss the role and observing similarities between Braxton's own personality and the character's. Once Roth forwarded his approval of the singer's casting to Disney, the studio began collaborating with Braxton's management on developing a contract stipulating that the singer would appear in the show for a three-month period.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “A Change in Me” is 1998 song performed by Toni Braxton. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Change, song and performed, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “1998 song performed by Toni Braxton” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4655808. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1991, 1998, 1994 and 2002.
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This entry incorporates text from “A Change in Me” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.