Happy Birthday to award-winning writer Justin Paul, born Jan. 3, 1985, in St. Louis. He graduated with a bachelor’s in musical theater from University of Michigan, where he met his writing partner Benj Pasek. While at college, the duo wrote the song cycle Edges. After school, they wrote songs for Disney Channel series Johnny and the Sprites and a musical adaptation of James and the Giant Peach. In 2012, the writing team made their Broadway debut with the musical adaptation of A Christmas Story, earning a Tony nomination, and their Off-Broadway debut with the musical adaptation of Dogfight, earning a Lortel Award. (You can read my interview with Pasek & Paul at Dramatics.)
Below is Ana Gasteyer with Andy Walken and Sammy Ramirez in the Emmy-nominated song “In the Market for a Miracle,” from the 2017 live TV broadcast of the A Christmas Story, and Lindsay Mendez and Derek Klena in “First Date / Last Night” from Dogfight.
In 2017, Pasek & Paul had another pair of high profile shows. They wrote songs for the film musical La La Land, earning a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. Later that year, their stage show Dear Evan Hansen opened on Broadway, following its Off-Broadway and regional productions, earning them an Obie, Tony, Grammy, and Oliver for their score. Below is Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in the Oscar-winning song “City of Stars,” and Ben Platt and the Dear Evan Hansen cast in “Waving Through a Window” at the Tonys.
More recently, Pasek & Paul contributed songs to the film musical The Greatest Showman, earning Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. Below is Keala Settle and the film cast in the nominated song “This Is Me.”