Justin Paul

Justin Paul (born January 3, 1985) is an American composer and lyricist best known for writing songs for films such as La La Land (2016) and The Greatest Showman (2017), and the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, 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, both in Westport, Connecticut. While in public school, Justin was an active member of both Coleytown Company and Staples Players (his middle and high school theatre programs). He graduated from the University of Michigan in December 2006 with a BFA in Musical Theatre.

Career

He is the co-creator, with Benj Pasek of the song cycle Edges. 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, which opened Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre 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 and Ryan Gosling. The film was the opening film at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, on August 31, 2016. The duo won the 2017 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "City of Stars." 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; the trio won for the latter. The duo earned another Oscar nomination the following year for co-writing the song, "This Is Me", from The Greatest Showman (2017).

Pasek and Paul also wrote the original song "Runnin' Home to You" performed by Grant Gustin for the musical crossover episode of The Flash "Duet" between The Flash and Supergirl.

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. 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, 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 for serving as producers for the Broadway production of Michael R. Jackson'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. In July 2020, they welcomed their third child.

The Pauls are practicing Christians.

Awards and nominations

Notes

External links

• Justin Paul at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Justin Paul at the Internet Broadway Database
• Justin Paul at IMDb