62 - Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, 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, Dogfight, Edges, and James and the Giant Peach. Their original songs have been featured on NBC's Smash. Most recently, they have created and written the score for the stage musical Dear Evan Hansen which premiered at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in July 2015. Both artists are winners of the American Theatre Wing's 2007 Jonathan Larson Award, which honors achievement by composers, lyricists and librettists.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are not fresh off the boat by any means. They’re Tony nominated and have a Broadway show to their credit, and a couple of high profile Off Broadway showings as well, including the upcoming Dear Evan Hansen. But as Broadway’s next gen of musical theater composers, they’ve got a unique perspective on all things, including . . .

• How they got their music to the world through YouTube.
• What went wrong with the first musical they wrote after getting to New York and how they used that to their advantage.
• 20 years from now, how they’d know if they “made it.”
• Why all artists in the 21st century have to be great marketers.
• How they used the “Michigan Mafia” to their advantage (it’s real, it really is).

Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway

www.theproducersperspective.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices