By Larisa Hicken with Jennifer Mustoe
It’s not often that an audience gives a standing ovation as the performers are announced – before they’ve sung a single note or spoken a single word, but that’s exactly what happened when Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Tony, Oscar® and Golden Globe-winning songwriting team behind the musicals Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman, took the stage in UVU‘s Lockhart Arena on February 26, 2018. The dynamic musicians seemed genuinely delighted by the enthusiastic reception and expressed their affection for the many musical theater lovers in Utah. In fact, they even credit Utah’s enthusiasm for musical theater as a contributor to the success of The Greatest Showman.
Justin Paul Works With a UVU Student in a Special Master Class
Before the main Roots of Knowledge Lecture Series performance, the talented pair offered a master class to UVU students studying Musical Theater. They worked with a few selected students to offer individual encouragement and feedback. A common theme in their instruction was for the actors to consider the journey that their character takes from the beginning of a song to the end and to allow the audience to participate in that discovery. It was so interesting to see how the singers progressed from singing their songs “well” but with the enthusiastic feedback from Pasek and Paul, the singers and their songs reached beautiful and poignant new heights.
Pasek and Paul have their own fascinating story of their journey from Musical Theater students at the University of Michigan who could only get the small parts in a production to successful songwriters of award-winning musicals. Pasek said, “If nobody is handing you a part, maybe you have to write your own part.” As sophomores in college, they determined to do just that and their first musical, Edges, was the result. The writers encouraged audience members not to “get stuck with what you said you’d be or what people expect you to be,” but to “find what you are passionate about” and “don’t be afraid to recalculate.”
They also encouraged students to allow themselves to grow and to keep pushing forward when they encounter obstacles. After college, the two worked on a musical adaptation of James and the Giant Peach. Unfortunately, it was not initially well received and the writers realized that “things don’t always work out the way you plan.” They were eventually able to come back to the project and in 2013, they worked with the Seattle Children’s Theater to create a successful kid’s show. The two sang a delightful song from the show called “Floating Along.”
Pasek and Paul exude a sincerity and passion that could win over any audience. They shared stories about geeking out when they met their idol Cindy Lauper and flying from New York to L.A. so that they could “coincidentally” be in town for a quick meeting about La La Land and win the job as lyricists. They endearingly expressed their gratitude for the chance to collaborate with talented screenwriters and directors and inspirational artists like SUU alumna Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman) and Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen). They performed the songs “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman and “Waving Through a Window“ from Dear Evan Hansen. The highlights of the night were their performance of “City of Stars” from La La Land as the audience held up their cell phones to create a constellation and their invitation to the audience to join in singing “Rewrite The Stars” from The Greatest Showman.
Awesome advice from Pasek and Paul in the master class at UVU:
• “Hear” what the other person is saying back to you as you sing. Make it about the other person. Use their argument to increase immediacy.
• Keep the musical phrase, even if you aren’t rigid with the rhythm. Make it human.
• As songwriters, they want the performer to be a “third” collaborator to work in tandem with them to serve the story.
• Closing your eyes when you feel emotion can be a selfish choice that excludes the audience. Give the moment to the other person.
• Sometimes too much chocolate cake is too much chocolate cake. Don’t be afraid to hold back and save your full voice.
• Musical theater is like a shark – it has to keep moving to survive. Make sure your character is on a journey of discovery and that the choices haven’t already been made at the beginning.
• The more general a song is, the more specific the performer must be in their choices.
• Figure out what the significance is of the often repeated phrase. Use it as a tactic instead of a statement.
• Holding out a note makes the music about the performer instead of the listener. Don’t just show off.
Also, there is a lot of freaking talent at UVU!
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These young songwriters are clearly talented enough to be performers, in spite of their claims to the contrary. Paul plays a piano like nobody’s business and they both have lovely voices and spectacular vocal ranges – and they definitely know how to work a crowd. However, it seems a very fortunate thing indeed that their journey led them to songwriting. It was clear that their music has touched the lives of many young people when the guest performers, One Voice Children’s Choir sang the song “This is Me.” Singers and audience members alike shared tears over their memorable and moving rendition that ended the night.
We look forward to the next steps on Pasek and Paul’s journey (which includes a live action version of Disney’s Snow White). These gifted young men have incredible voices that will inspire a generation of artists. They’ve certainly won the hearts of the people in Utah Valley.
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