Benj Pasek Benj Pasek (born June 6, 1985) is an American theater and television composer and lyricist best known for his works '' The Greatest Showman'', ''La La Land'' and ''Dear Evan Hansen'', all of which he co-wrote with his songwriting partner, Just ...

and

Justin Paul Justin Paul (born January 3, 1985) is an American theater and television composer and lyricist best known for his works ''The Greatest Showman'', ''La La Land'' and ''Dear Evan Hansen'', all of which he co-wrote with his songwriting partner, Ben ...

, known together as Pasek and Paul, are an American songwriting duo and composing team for musical theater, films and television. Their works include ''

A Christmas Story ''A Christmas Story'' is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book '' In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash'', with some elements from his 1971 book ''Wanda Hickey's ...

'', ''

Dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...

'', '' Edges'', ''

Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a t ...

'', and '' James and the Giant Peach''. Their original songs have been featured on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's '' Smash'' and in the films ''

La La Land ''La La Land'' is a 2016 American romantic musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actress, respectively, who meet and fall in love ...

'', for which they won both the

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

and

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Original Song for the song "

City of Stars "City of Stars" is a song performed by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in the film ''La La Land'' (2016). The music of the song was composed by Justin Hurwitz while the lyrics were provided by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The song won numerous awards ...

", and ''

The Greatest Showman ''The Greatest Showman'' is a 2017 American biographical musical drama film directed by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon and starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, ...

''. Their work on the original musical ''

'' has received widespread critical acclaim and earned them the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Tony Award for Best Original Score. In 2022, they won the

Tony Award for Best Musical The Tony Award for Best Musical is given annually to the best new Broadway musical, as determined by Tony Award voters. The award is one of the ceremony's longest-standing awards, having been presented each year since 1949. The award goes to the ...

for serving as producers for the Broadway production of

Michael R. Jackson Michael R. Jackson (born 1981) is an American playwright, composer, and lyricist, best known for his musical ''A Strange Loop'', which won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2022 Tony Award for Best Musical. He is originally from Detroit, M ...

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

-winning musical '' A Strange Loop''. While Pasek usually writes lyrics and Paul usually writes music, they share credit for both elements. Both are graduates of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and winners of the

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

's 2007 Jonathan Larson Grant, which honors achievement by composers, lyricists and librettists.

History

Start at the University of Michigan

Pasek and Paul started working together as freshmen at the

. Both got "background" roles in the school's musical theater production, which inspired them to write '' Edges'', a song cycle about the trials and tribulations of moving into adulthood and the search for meaning. ''Edges'' premiered in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all ...

on April 3, 2005. On May 14, 2006, the duo made their New York City premiere: a

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

of original songs titled ''Become: The Music of Pasek & Paul''. Presented by

Jamie McGonnigal James Campbell McGonnigal (born August 6, 1975 in Weymouth, Massachusetts) is an American voice actor, producer, activist and director, who has worked for various companies such as 4Kids Entertainment, Central Park Media, NYAV Post, DuArt Film ...

, performers included

Gavin Creel Gavin James Creel (born April 18, 1976) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his work in musical theater. Creel made his Broadway debut in 2002 in the leading role of Jimmy in ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' before starring a ...

, Cheyenne Jackson,

Celia Keenan-Bolger Celia Keenan-Bolger (born January 26, 1978) is an American actress and singer. She is known for portraying Scout Finch in the play ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (2018), which earned her a Tony Award. She has also won three Drama Desk Awards and an ...

Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom '' Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstandin ...

, and Steven Pasquale. They also contributed to the 2006 off-Broadway musical '' White Noise: A Cautionary Musical,'' which won Talkin' Broadway's 2006 Summer Theatre Festival Citation for Outstanding Original Score. In December 2006, they completed their BFA degrees in musical theatre.

Musical theatre

Early projects

''Edges'' proved popular on social media and within several years it had over 200 productions worldwide, with countries including Australia, South Africa,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, France,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, the United Kingdom, Canada, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and the United States. Pasek and Paul wrote the score to the musical adaptation of

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

's '' James and the Giant Peach'', which premiered in 2010 through Goodspeed Musicals. Other early works include ''If You Give A Pig A Pancake'' (2010) and ''Duck For President'' for Theatreworks USA, and ''Dr. Williams'', written for the Orchard Project's 24 Hour Musicals benefit. The show starred

and Cheyenne Jackson. Pasek and Paul were featured in the 2011 documentary film ''One Night Stand'' about the process. They wrote the lyrics and music to the 2012 musical ''

'', also contributing to '' A Christmas Story, The Musical'', which was nominated for a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

in 2013 for Best Original Score.

''Dear Evan Hansen'' (2015)

Pasek and Paul wrote the music and lyrics to their musical ''

.'' The musical, inspired by the death of a fellow student while Pasek was in high school, features book by

Steven Levenson Steven Levenson (born May 1984) is an American playwright and television writer. He won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''Dear Evan Hansen''. Early life Levenson was raised in Bethesda, Maryland. He was raised in a Reform Jewi ...

. Directed by Michael Greif and starring

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of ''The Sound of Music'' (2006) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2012 ...

, it premiered at the

Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...

in Washington, D.C. on July 30, 2015. It made its Off-Broadway debut in March 2016 at the Second Stage Theatre, and on Broadway on November 14, 2016, opening three weeks later at the

Music Box Theatre The Music Box Theatre is a Broadway theater at 239 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, the Music Box Theatre was designed by C. Howard Crane in a Palladian-inspir ...

. At the

71st Tony Awards The 71st Annual Tony Awards were held on June 11, 2017, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2016–17 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and was broadcast live by CBS.Viagas, Robert"Brea ...

, it was nominated for nine awards including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Actor in a Musical for Platt. It won six awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score for the duo. At the

2018 Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongc ...

, ''Dear Evan Hansen'' won Best Musical Theater Album. The musical received the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and a 2016

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the ...

for Musical Theatre. The show broke box office records at the Music Box Theatre and became the longest-running production to play the venue in Broadway’s history. The musical made its West End debut at the

Noël Coward Theatre The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on November 19, 2019, following previews in October of the same year. The show was nominated for seven

Laurence Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

at the 2020 ceremony and won three: Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for star

Sam Tutty Sam Tutty (born 9 April 1998) is an English actor. He is most known for his title role in the West End production of the musical ''Dear Evan Hansen'' for which a then 22-year-old Tutty won a 2020 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Lead ...

and Best Original Score or New Orchestrations for Pasek and Paul.

Television

The duo have written original music for several television shows. As of 2007, Pasek and Paul were writing music for the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

show ''

Johnny and the Sprites ''Johnny and the Sprites'' is an American children's musical television show that aired every weekend on the "Playhouse Disney" block on Disney Channel. The show was created by, produced by, and starred John Tartaglia (most famous for his work o ...

'', with songs used in six episodes and for one story in the season's premiere. Their original material was featured on season 2 of

's ''Smash'' in 2013, and have risen to the Top 25 on the iTunes Pop Charts. Pasek and Paul also wrote the original song "Runnin' Home to You" performed by

Grant Gustin Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his roles as Barry Allen / The Flash on The CW series ''The Flash'' as part of the Arrowverse, and as Sebastian Smythe on the Fox series '' Gl ...

for ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

'' episode "

Duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a sol ...

", a musical crossover between ''The Flash'' and ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

''.

Melissa Benoist Melissa Marie Benoist ( ; born October 4, 1988) is an American actress, singer and producer. Her first major role was Marley Rose on the Fox musical comedy drama '' Glee'' (2012–2014), where she was a series regular during the fifth season. ...

sang it in ''Supergirl'''s " Crisis on Earth-X" crossover episode.

Films

Pasek and Paul wrote the 2016 song "Get Back Up Again" for the film '' Trolls'', as well as five original songs for the 2016 animated direct-to-video feature '' Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz''. They wrote the lyrics for the musical romantic comedy-drama film ''

'', which had music written by Justin Hurwitz. The film, in its world premiere, was the opening film at the 73rd

Venice International Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

on August 31, 2016. The film's track "

", with their lyrics and composition by Justin Hurwitz, won the 2017

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

.Barone, Joshua
''Golden Globe Winners 2017''
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 8, 2017. "City of Stars" and "

Audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

" received nominations for Best Original Song at the 89th Academy Awards, and they won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "City of Stars." Pasek and Paul wrote the songs for the 2017 musical drama film ''

''. About the

Barnum & Bailey Circus The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Ear ...

, the film premiered on December 8, 2017. The duo's song "

This Is Me This Is Me may refer to: Albums * ''This Is Me'' (Charlie McDonnell album), 2010 * ''This Is Me'' (Heather Peace album), 2010 * ''This Is Me'' (Jully Black album), or the title song, 2005 * ''This Is Me'' (Kierra Sheard album), or the titl ...

" won a

for Best Original Song and was nominated for Best Original Song at the

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

. In collaboration with

Alan Menken Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores and songs for '' The Little Mermaid'' (1989), '' Beauty and the Beast'' (1991), ' ...

, Pasek and Paul wrote the lyrics for two new songs for Disney's 2019 live action film adaptation of ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...

''. The film also includes original 1992 song compositions written by Menken,

Howard Ashman Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

, and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

. Pasek and Paul will also write songs for Disney's upcoming live-action film, ''

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

''. Pasek and Paul also adapted ''Dear Evan Hansen'' as a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

and director

Stephen Chbosky Stephen Chbosky (; born January 25, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film producer, film director, novelist, television writer, and television producer. He is best-known for writing the bestselling coming-of-age novel ''The Perks of Being a Wal ...

. They wrote two new songs for the film, including "The Anonymous Ones," which was written in collaboration with

Amandla Stenberg Amandla Stenberg (born October 23, 1998) is an American actress. She was included in '' Time''s list of Most Influential Teens in both 2015 and 2016, and has received several accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an NAACP Image Award, and ...

for the character of Alana Beck, whom Stenberg plays in the film. They also wrote "A Little Closer" for the character of Connor Murphy, played by

Colton Ryan Colton Ryan (born June 10, 1995) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his performance as Conrad "Coco" Roy in the Hulu miniseries '' The Girl from Plainville'' (2022), for which he garnered critical acclaim, and for playing Connor Mu ...

, who reprises the role in which he understudied in the Broadway production. Paul also composed the film's underscore with Dan Romer. It premiered at the

2021 Toronto International Film Festival The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, the 46th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 9 to 18, 2021.Barry Hertz"TIFF planning ‘substantially bigger’ 2021 film festival compared to last year’ ...

on September 9, 2021, followed by a release in theaters on September 24, 2021. They will next write original songs for

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by So ...

's live-action/animated adaptation of

Bernard Waber Bernard Waber (September 27, 1921 – May 16, 2013) was an American children's author most famous for the books '' The House on East 88th Street'' (1962), '' Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile'' (1965) and the subsequent books in the ''Lyle'' series. Backg ...

's children's book '' Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile''. It will be released on November 18, 2022.

Musicals

Filmography

Awards and nominations

: Pasek and Paul were the youngest winners of the Jonathan Larson Grant in history.

Personal lives

Pasek is the son of

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek. His alma mater is the

and

Friends' Central School Friends' Central School (FCS) is a Quaker school which educates students from nursery through grade 12. It is located in Wynnewood, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania in Greater Philadelphia. The school was founded in 1845 in ...

. He is gay. Paul's alma mater is the University of Michigan and

Staples High School Staples High School is a public high school located in the town of Westport, Connecticut, United States. Staples High School is named after Horace Staples, who founded the school on April 26, 1884. Westport is one of eight school districts in Dis ...

. Paul is married; he and his wife have a daughter, born in 2016.

References

External links

Pasek and Paul website
* * {{Authority control American musical duos American musical theatre composers American musical theatre lyricists American songwriting teams Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Broadway composers and lyricists Friends' Central School alumni Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Grammy Award winners Living people Male musical theatre composers Songwriters from Missouri Songwriters from Pennsylvania Tony Award winners University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni Year of birth missing (living people)