Passing the Mic, Miranda and Bareilles Headline LCT's Composer Series

Lincoln Center Theater is launching The Composer Series, three one-night concerts at the Vivian Beaumont Theater headlined by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul on November 30, Lin-Manuel Miranda on December 14 and Sara Bareilles on June 21, 2027.

All three fall on a Monday. By Suite 646's check of the calendar, November 30, December 14 and June 21 are each Mondays, so the songwriters get West 65th Street on the same night of the week every time.

The idea is simple. Each headliner plays from their own catalogue and then hands the stage to younger writers they chose themselves. Each evening ends in conversation between the established writer and the newcomers, according to Playbill, which reports that the series is meant to support some of the theater's newest writers.

Who Is Playing, and When?

The Composer Series runs three Monday nights at 8 p.m. at the Beaumont, 150 West 65th Street, according to Lincoln Center Theater's own listing. Here is the lineup as LCT and Playbill give it.

Monday, November 30, 2026. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the team behind Dear Evan Hansen and the songs of The Greatest Showman, with five guest writers.

Monday, December 14, 2026. Lin-Manuel Miranda, with guest writers still to be named.

Monday, June 21, 2027. Sara Bareilles, the composer and lyricist of Waitress, with guest writers still to be named.

By Suite 646's own count, the three evenings stretch across 203 days, from late November to the first day of summer. Only the first night has a full guest list so far.

Who Are the New Writers?

Pasek and Paul have picked five. They are Barlow and Bear, Marie Dresselhuis, Joriah Kwamé, Oliver Richman and Jaheem King Toombs, according to LCT and BroadwayWorld.

None of the five is a household name yet. That is the point of the format.

The hosts of the first night are a long way past that stage. Pasek and Paul met as freshmen at the University of Michigan, according to their Wikipedia biography. Dear Evan Hansen opened at the Music Box Theatre in November 2016 and won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. They shared the Academy Award for City of Stars, the song from La La Land, and in September 2024 they completed an EGOT with an Emmy for a song from Only Murders in the Building. The headliner fills the seats, and the seats hear somebody new.

LCT describes each evening as songs, stories and talk about how a song gets made. BroadwayWorld calls it a rare chance to hear established and emerging talent in conversation. Neither outlet has published any quotes from the headliners about the series yet.

The headliner fills the seats, and the seats hear somebody new.

Why Does This Matter for Miranda?

The timing puts Miranda on a Lincoln Center stage three months before his next Broadway musical. Warriors, his musical with Eisa Davis, begins previews at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on March 9, 2027, Playbill notes. Suite 646 covered the Warriors on-sale last week.

His December 14 night is the middle of the three. LCT has not announced on-sale details for it or for the Bareilles evening.

Miranda has also announced the cast. Amber Gray and Jasmine Cephas Jones lead Warriors, BroadwayWorld reported last week.

What Does Bareilles Bring?

Bareilles closes the run in June. Her guest writers are also still to be announced.

She arrives as both a writer and a Broadway performer. Waitress opened on Broadway in 2016 and earned her a Tony nomination for Best Original Score. She then played the lead role of Jenna in the show herself in several stints between 2017 and 2021, according to her Wikipedia biography. In 2022 she played the Baker's Wife in Into the Woods at the St. James Theatre on West 44th Street, a performance that brought her a second Tony nomination, this time as an actress.

Before Broadway, there was radio. Love Song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2007. Brave followed in 2013. A June night at the Beaumont is likely to hold both kinds of song, though LCT has not said what any headliner will play.

What to Know Before You Go

Tickets for the Pasek and Paul evening go on sale to Lincoln Center Theater members on Monday, November 2, at 10 a.m., and to the general public on Tuesday, November 3, at 10 a.m., according to LCT's listing. The listing does not give prices. The evening is presented by special arrangement with Creative Partners Productions.

On-sale details for the Miranda and Bareilles nights are still to come. LCT's page offers an email sign-up for updates.

For another Miranda night in New York this season, see In the Heights at City Center.

Three Mondays, three headliners, and a stage full of names most people have not heard yet. Give it a year. They may be the ones getting their own Monday.