Justin Paul (born January 3, 1985) is an American theater and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

composer and lyricist best known for his works '' The Greatest Showman'', '' La La Land'' and ''

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 ...

'', all of which he co-wrote with his songwriting partner, Benj Pasek.

Early life and education

Paul was born in Missouri, but raised in Connecticut. He attended Music Theatre of Connecticut School of Performing Arts, Coleytown Middle School, 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 ...

, both in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

. While at

, he was an active member of the school's theater group, Staples Players. He graduated from 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 ...

in December 2006 with a BFA in Musical Theatre.

Career

He is the co-creator, with

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, Justin ...

of the

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarel ...

Edges Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

''. Also with Pasek, he is one of the songwriters for the Disney Channel show '' Johnny and the Sprites''. Pasek and Paul won the Jonathan Larson Award in 2007. He also co-wrote and co-composed the musical ''

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 maj ...

'', which opened

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

at the

Second Stage Theatre Second Stage Theater is a theater company founded in 1979 by Robyn Goodman and Carole Rothman and located in Manhattan, New York City. It produces both new plays and revivals of contemporary American plays by new playwrights and established wri ...

in July 2012. He also composed the musical '' James and the Giant Peach'' with Benj Pasek. Pasek and Paul wrote the lyrics for the film musical '' La La Land''. The film was written and directed by Damien Chazelle, and stars

Emma Stone Emily Jean Stone (born November 6, 1988), known professionally as Emma Stone, is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, she ...

and

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. Prominent in independent film, he has also worked in blockbuster films of varying genres, and has accrued a worldwide box office gross of over 1.9 billion USD. He has receive ...

. The film 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 he ...

, on August 31, 2016. The duo won 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 ser ...

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 ...

for " City of Stars."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. The pair received two Best Original Song nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, for "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" and "City of Stars," alongside composer Justin Hurwitz. "City of Stars" won the award. 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 ''Gle ...

for the musical crossover episode of '' The Flash'' "Duet" 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 ...

''. Most recently, they have created and written the score for the stage musical ''

'' which 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. in July 2015. The musical, which has been called "striking for its moral complexity as well as its musical ambition", which opened on Broadway in December 2016. 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"Br ...

, it is nominated for nine awards including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Actor in a Musical for Platt. 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 ...

's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical '' A Strange Loop''.

Personal life

Paul is married. He and his wife have a daughter, born in 2016, and a son, born in 2018.Paulson, Michae
''What It's Like to Make It in Showbiz With Your Best Friend''
The New York Times, November 10, 2016. In July 2020, they welcomed their third child. The Pauls are practicing

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Awards and nominations

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

Notes

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Justin 1985 births American musical theatre composers American musical theatre lyricists Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Broadway composers and lyricists Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Grammy Award winners Living people People from Westport, Connecticut Songwriters from Connecticut Songwriters from Missouri Tony Award winners University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni Staples High School alumni