Backstage after "Dear Evan Hansen" won the score, book and orchestrations categories, songwriters Justin Paul and Benj Pasek compared their Tony victory with their Oscar as composers of "La La Land." Pasek said he and his writing partner interned for Jeff Marx [“Avenue Q”] and spent a summer getting his dry cleaning. "He gave us a loan that allowed us stay in New York," Pasek said. [But] We fell in love with the character and his need to belong and need to connect. The show [eventually] got to a very human place.”Read the Times interview with Pasek and Paul.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 12, 2017 02:24 UTC