How ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Pulled Off a Musical in Season 3

It wasn’t enough for the third season of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” to nab Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd to join the superstar main cast trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. When it came to creating this season’s fully integrated musical, “Death Rattle Dazzle,” the production team’s thinking seemed to be: Nothing short of two powerhouse songwriting duos will do.

Enter Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“Dear Evan Hansen,” “La La Land”) and Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (“Hairspray,” “Smash”)...