Dogfight Original Cast Recording 2012

"It's Nov. 21, 1963. On the eve of their deployment to a small but growing conflict in Southeast Asia, three young Marines set out for one final boys’ night of debauchery, partying, and maybe a little trouble. But when Corporal Eddie Birdlace [Derek Klena, who was Tommy in Carrie Off-Broadway] meets Rose [Lindsay Mendez, of Godspell and Everyday Rapture], an awkward and idealistic waitress he enlists to win a cruel bet with his fellow recruits, she rewrites the rules of the game and teaches him the power of compassion."

Dogfight is based on the Warner Bros. film and screenplay by Bob Comfort; Lili Taylor and River Phoenix starred in the movie. The Marines' cruel bet involves finding the ugliest girls in town and bringing them to a party, at which the women are secretly judged and a winner among the men is chosen. The musical is the winner of the 2011 Richard Rodgers Studio Production Award, administered by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In addition to the 2011 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre, they have received the 2011 Sundance Institute Fellowship, 2011 ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, 2011 ASCAP Songwriters Fellowship Award, 2007-2008 Dramatists Guild Fellowship, 2007 Jonathan Larson Award, 2010 Fred Ebb Award Finalists, Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, and were among the "50 to Watch" from Dramatist Magazine. They both received BFAs from the University of Michigan in Musical Theatre.

Pasek and Paul, together with book writer Peter Duchan, adapted the 1991 River Phoenix and Lili Taylor film Dogfight. The musical premiered Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre on July 16, 2012 after previews from June 27 and was directed by Joe Mantello and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli.

The musical was the recipient of the 2011 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and two 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Choreographer (Christopher Gattelli). It was nominated for 2013 Drama League Awards for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical and Distinguished Performance (Lindsay Mendez).

The Dogfight Original Cast Album was released digitally on April 30, 2013 and as a CD in May, 2013 by Sh-K-Boom Records.