ABOUT ME
Benjamin Velez is a Tony Nominated composer/lyricist, whose original musicals have appeared on Broadway (REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES), Shakespeare In the Park (THE TEMPEST), and regionally at La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, and Hartford Stage (KISS MY AZTEC). His work has been recognized with the Fred Ebb Award, Kleban Award, and Stephen Schwartz Award, among other honors.
He co-wrote music and lyrics for an adaptation of Real Women Have Curves that premiered at the American Repertory Theater (ART) in Cambridge in 2023, and opened on Broadway in April 2025, with Benjamin receiving his first Tony® Award Nomination for “Best Original Score.”
His musical BORDERLINE was the 2018 recipient of the Weston New Musical Award and opened the 2019 O’Neill National Musical Theater Conference. His musical KISS MY AZTEC, written with John Leguizamo, Tony Taccone, and David Kamp, has been presented at Berkeley Rep (2019) La Jolla Playhouse (2019), and Hartford Stage (2022).
His other original musicals, including AFTERLAND, STARBLASTERS, and LOST CITY RADIO, have been developed at the Yale Institute for Musical Theater, NYMF, Dixon Place, Ars Nova, Joe's Pub, the Civilians, 54 Below, New York Stage And Film, and the York Theater, among others.
In 2023 Benjamin wrote music and lyrics for a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest for the Public Theater’s Public Works program that premiered at Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, starring Tony Winner from HAMILTON, Renee Elise Goldsberry as Prospero.
A Miami native, Benjamin studied film at Columbia University, where he wrote the 114th Annual Varsity Show, Morningside Hates. Upcoming projects include commissions from La Jolla Playhouse and Manhattan Theater Club. He lives in New York City.
AWARDS
2019 Paulette Haupt Composition Prize - Eugene O’Neill Theater Conference
2018-2019 Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow
2017 Sundance Artist in Residence @ UCROSS
WHY WRITE MUSICALS?
I love writing musicals because I love telling stories. No matter who you are or where you come from, when you step into a dark theater and the orchestra starts to play, you suspend your disbelief and give in to a world where anything is possible. Unlike film, television, and even plays, musicals are inherently further from reality, which in turn allows them to comment more freely upon it with the potential for a powerful catharsis that sneaks up on you before you know it.
My goal as a storyteller is to entertain and move audiences by telling stories with compelling characters that really speak to people. It doesn’t matter if those characters are Martians or magicians, everyone can relate to characters who are committed to pursuing their dreams, however daft and dangerous they may be.
