EGOT Benj Pasek Has Given Philly Major Bragging Rights
His show Dear Evan Hansen opens at the Arden this week.
Benj Pasek, one of the brains behind Dear Evan Hansen at the Arden, at a post-Emmy reception in 2024 / Photograph by JC Olivera/GA/The Hollywood Reporter/Getty Images
This month, Main Line–bred composer Benj Pasek, who has won no shortage of prestigious awards, sees the curtain rise on his Tony-winning play, Dear Evan Hansen, at the Arden from May 21st through July 5th. Here’s what you need to know about the 40-year-old who has given Philly major bragging rights.
Local cred: Though he now lives in Manhattan (in a posh penthouse he bought from Amy Schumer for $13 million, no less), Pasek grew up in Ardmore and discovered his love for theater at Friends’ Central. A classmate’s drug overdose inspired him to write Dear Evan Hansen.
Family ties: His mom, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, is a national expert on childhood development. Of Benj, she once told Philly Mag: “Did I know he was a smart kid? Sure. But everybody has a smart kid. Do I personally like his melodies? Yeah, what Jewish mom wouldn’t like her kid’s melodies? I wish I could tell you I’m prescient. I’m not.”
His other (creative) half: Pasek doesn’t do a project without his songwriting partner, Justin Paul. The two met as musical theater majors at the University of Michigan. They were bored with the music doled out to them at the school and decided to start writing their own.
Crowning achievement: There are 22 EGOTs in the world — folks who have won all the major awards in showbiz: the Emmy, the Grammy, the Oscar, and the Tony. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul were numbers 20 and 21 on the list, the youngest people ever to achieve EGOT status. Dear Evan Hansen alone was nominated for nine Tonys and won six. Pasek and Paul have also written music for The Greatest Showman, La La Land, Only Murders in the Building, and last year’s remake of Snow White.
Benj Pasek’s Dear Evan Hansen rehearsal at the Arden / Photograph courtesy of Arden Theatre Company
Practice makes perfect? As a teenager, Pasek hated to practice piano and “fired” his teacher for constantly harping on his lack of practice. Seems to have worked out OK for him.
Everybody’s a critic: The New York Times called Dear Evan Hansen “a gorgeous heartbreaker of a musical.” Alas, the 2021 film adaptation was obliterated by critics, but it has an 88 out of 100 score on the Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter. Perhaps audiences know better?
Speech! Speech! “I want to thank my mom …” a tuxedoed and breathless Pasek said upon accepting his Oscar in 2017. “She let me quit the JCC soccer league to be in a school musical. So this is dedicated to all the kids who sing in the rain and all the moms who let them!” A standing ovation and thunderous applause followed.
The director’s chair: “Benj’s mom used to ask me, ‘When are you going to do one of my son’s shows?’” says Arden founder Terry Nolen, who is directing that theater’s Dear Evan Hansen. “My own son actually introduced me to the show years ago and said, ‘Dad, you have to do this!’ So I am happy to tell Benj’s mom that we are finally doing one of her son’s shows.”
Up next: Pasek and Paul are working on an upcoming Alicia Keys special on Showtime, an animated film called I Eat Poop: A Dung Beetle Story, and something we are very excited about: the 2028 film adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic Oh, the Places You’ll Go.
Published as “People You Need to Know: Benj Pasek” in the May 2026 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
