A great year for PASEK & PAUL!

[jo]

It has been a magical year for songwriters Pasek and Paul!  It started with the attention from their Oscar win in La La Land, then the Tony win for Dear Evan Hansen... and now they are going to be top-billed as the songwriting team for the new movie musical THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ( December 20, 2017)  and the live-action telecast of A CHRISTMAS STORY(December 17, 2017) .  There is even some buzz that they might have a repeat Oscar win for "This Is Me" from SHOWMAN.

They have been featured in previous articles by the NYTimes, Variety...and this new article from the LA Times on their work on the musical score of SHOWMAN --

http://beta.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-sneaks-greatest-showman-songs-20171103-story.html

 

It's great to see how enthusiastic they continue to be in their songwriting career that straddles between Broadway and Hollywood!
 

[jo]

On the new set of posters featured on the BWW gallery -- their LaLaLand reputation gets prominent billing --

[Call_me_jorge]

I hope Keala Settle gets to perform at the oscars this year. She has to. She deserves to.

[yaoqian]

And well deserved too...!! It's great to see relatively new composers shine on Broadway and in Hollywood. They're definitely a talented pair! Love their music.

[BwayLB]

I've so far seen their work in Trolls writing Get Back Up Again for Anna Kendrick as Poppy and La La Land. I plan to watch Christmas Story Live too. Not sure about Greatest Showman. Star power isn't enough for me. Because circuses are not really my cup of tea

[jo]

 Their particular strength seems to be in their lyrics work.  That elevated THIS IS ME to anthemic levels, as it has become a song of empowerment.

"The Greatest Show" which introduces their troupe's different kind of "showmen" has some complicated but catchy lyrics. The song itself is addictive --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=h0kdXGFJa2U

 

 

 

[BwayLB]

No thanks I decide when I'll listen to the music

[NOWaWarning]

Yes, let's hope their success encourages producers to continue to invest in the next generation of writers. 

[Cryoutloud131]

Of course they're successful, they're bland enough to appeal to the masses.

[BroadwayRox3588]

This thread got a lot less snarky responses than I expected.

[gypsy101]

BroadwayRox3588 said: "This thread got a lot less snarky responses than I expected."

lol i completely agree.

Cryingoutloud131 said: "Of course they're successful, they're bland enough to appeal to the masses."

i've thought most of their stage work up to dear evan hansen was completely bland and mostly forgettable outside of the odd tune (i liked Middle of a Moment from James and the Giant Peach) but i really enjoy most of the DEH score and their lyrics to La La Land. they're less talented than many "great" songwriters but moreso than many of their contemporaries.

[B.JAMES]

This board is filled with such miserable people, I can't even sometimes.  LOL'ing at people who want to sit and bitch, but will most likely never achieve anything significant in this lifetime.

[Andy51]

B.JAMES said: "LOL'ing at people who want to sit and bitch, but will most likely never achieve anything significant in this lifetime."

Equally true of people who sit and gush. (I'll add that some of the most successful and delightful people I know love to bitch).

 

[Steve C.]

I'm not gonna gush or trash these two very talented men.

IMO, they have written some really great songs and music. "A Christmas Story" is very, very entertaining and strong musically; the same goes for "Dear Evan Hansen" (the songs and music). Also, the songs that they wrote for "Smash" are so very much much better than the storytelling, (their songs make re-watching "Smash" worth the time).

As for "LaLa Land" the songs and music are "nice"; a few are very good but that God awful screenplay and lame choreography overpower their songs.

I look forward to their future, still, I hope they don't get "Disney-fied".  

[BwayLB]

^ I agree the music in La La Land was nice but not showstopping material like I hoped. Audition and Someone in the Crowd were my favorites and I wish there was more quality in the music. About the Disneyfied part, you might want to reconsider that since they are co-writing new music for Aladdin. Which is by the way awesome but a little unnecessary since I don't understand why they can't use music from the Broadway version.

[gypsy101]

the music was the best thing in La La Land are y’all deaf

[NOWaWarning]

For the record, Pasek and Paul didn't write the music for La La Land. They wrote only the lyrics to the songs.

[gypsy101]

hence why i mentioned above that they wrote the lyrics, i don’t recall anyone thinking they wrote the music

[edmundog2]

I'm doing James and the Giant Peach this year, and it's super catchy. My students all love it.