Benj Pasek

In September 2024, the duo became the 20th and 21st EGOT winners, breaking Robert Lopez's record for the fastest EGOT interval; the duo's interval was 7 years 7 months. Lopez & Pasek and Paul are also the three youngest EGOT winners, all at 39 years old.

• Name — Pasek and Paul • Landscape — yes • Website — http: pasekandpaul.com • Genre — Musical theatre • Current Members — Benj Pasek Justin Paul

Pasek and Paul started working together as freshmen at the University of Michigan. Together, they wrote Edges, a song cycle about the trials and tribulations of moving into adulthood and the search for meaning. Edges premiered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on April 3, 2005. On May 14, 2006, the duo made their New York City premiere: a benefit concert of original songs titled Become: The Music of Pasek & Paul. Presented by Jamie McGonnigal, performers included Cheyenne Jackson, Celia Keenan-Bolger, 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.

Within several years, Edges had over 200 productions in countries including Australia, South Africa, Denmark, France, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Philippines, and the United States. Pasek and Paul wrote the score to the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl'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 Jesse Tyler Ferguson 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 Dogfight, also contributing to A Christmas Story, The Musical, which was nominated for a Tony Award in 2013 for Best Original Score.

Pasek and Paul wrote the music and lyrics to their musical Dear Evan Hansen. The musical, inspired by the death of a fellow student while Pasek was in high school, features book by Steven Levenson. Directed by Michael Greif and starring Ben Platt in the title role, it premiered at the Arena Stage 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. At the 71st Tony Awards, 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, Dear Evan Hansen won Best Musical Theater Album. The musical received the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and a 2016 Obie Award 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 in London on November 19, 2019, following previews in October of the same year. The show was nominated for seven Laurence Olivier Awards at the 2020 ceremony and won three: Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for star Sam Tutty and Best Original Score or New Orchestrations for Pasek and Paul.

The duo have written original music for several television shows. In 2007 and 2008 Pasek and Paul wrote music for the Disney Channel show Johnny and the Sprites, with songs used in six episodes and for one story in the season's premiere. Their original material was featured on season 2 of NBC'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 for The Flash episode "Duet", a musical crossover between The Flash and Supergirl. Melissa Benoist sang it in Supergirl 's "Crisis on Earth-X" crossover episode. They also wrote original songs for an episode of the Hulu show Only Murders in the Building, including "Look for the Light", a duet sung by Meryl Streep and Ashley Park. Another song, "Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?" was written by Pasek and Paul working for the first time in collaboration with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman of Hairspray fame. The tongue-twisting patter song was performed primarily by Only Murders actor Steve Martin, and also by Matthew Broderick for one episode, followed by Martin Short. They won a Primetime Emmy for "Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?" in 2024. In 2025, they reunited with Shaiman and Wittman to pen "Sometimes All You Need Is a Song," for Cynthia Erivo and the Broadway Inspirational Voices to perform as the opening number of the 78th Tony Awards.

Justin Noble Paul (born January 3, 1985) was born in Missouri, but raised in Connecticut. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a BFA in Musical Theatre. He is married to writer Asher Fogle Paul; he and his wife have four children. They have a daughter, born in 2016, and a son, born in 2018. In July 2020, they had their third child. The Pauls are practicing Christians. Benjamin Pasek (born June 9, 1985), is the son of Temple University professor, child psychologist, and author Kathy Hirsh-Pasek. His alma mater is the University of Michigan and Friends' Central School. He is gay. Pasek was born into a Jewish family and grew up in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. He received a B.F.A. in musical theater from the University of Michigan, where he met Paul.

• Year — Title — Notes • 2005 — Edges — | * Written at the University of Michigan • 2010 — James and the Giant Peach — Book by Timothy Allen McDonald • 2012 — Dogfight — Book by Peter Duchan • 2012 — A Christmas Story: The Musical — Book by Joseph Robinette • 2015 — Dear Evan Hansen — Book by Steven Levenson • 2026 — The Greatest Showman — Book by Tim Federle • TBA — La La Land — | * Music by Justin Hurwitz * Book by Ayad Akhtar and Matthew Decker

• Year — Title — Notes • 2016 — Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz — | * Film songwriting debut * Wrote 5 new songs, including: "There's No Place Like Home," "All Hail! (What's Mine is Mine)," "Oh My, Oh My, Oh My!" and "A Mighty Fine Affair." • Trolls — Writers of "Get Back Up Again" • La La Land — * Lyrics by Pasek and Paul, music by Justin Hurwitz * Won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "City of Stars" * Won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "City of Stars" * Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" • 2017 — The Greatest Showman — * Won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "This Is Me" * Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "This Is Me" • 2019 — Aladdin — Wrote the lyrics for two new songs in collaboration with Alan Menken, including "Speechless" • 2021 — Dear Evan Hansen — * Wrote two new songs, including: "The Anonymous Ones," with Amandla Stenberg and "A Little Closer." * Also executive producers • 2022 — Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile — Also executive producers • Spirited • 2023 — Only Murders in the Building — Composed songs for S3's "Death Rattle Dazzle" musical, also served as consulting producers for that season • 2025 — Snow White — * New songs * Additional lyrics by Jack Feldman * Wrote "A Hand Meets a Hand" with Lizzy McAlpine • 2028 — Oh, the Places You'll Go! — Warner Bros. Pictures Animation adaptating the 1990 book by Dr. Seuss • N/A — Golden — * Wrote songs in collaboration with Pharrell Williams * Cancelled before completion