Playwright / Composer Bio
Steven W. Rodgers is a composer, playwright, arranger, and producer whose theatre career began onstage and expanded to include directing, set design, and music direction. That practical experience informs his writing, combining a love of melody and comedy with an understanding of how a show comes to life in performance. He received an MFA in playwriting from the University of Virginia, where he
studied alongside Tina Fey (30 Rock, Saturday Night Live) and where he worked with Aaron Sorkin (West Wing) and Tom Hulce (Amadeus) on the original production of A Few Good Men.
His musicals include No Trifling with Love, an adaptation of Alfred de Musset’s romantic comedy, on ne badine pas avec l’amour; Zolushka: The Russian Cinderella, a light-hearted retelling of the classic tale, and Revolutionary Gentleman, a historical, tongue-in-cheek look at the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of Benedict Arnold.
His first play, The Will to Get Married, won the Ozark Writers’ League award for best play, and has since been performed around the country, including a number of New York productions.
Beyond writing scripts and scores, Steven has arranged, conducted, and produced his work. His studio recordings and orchestral backing tracks have featured Ashley Park (Mean Girls/Emily in Paris), guitarist Paul Bell from the Nighthawks, Tony Rossi (How I Met Your Mother), Mike Shiflett (Spielberg’s Lincoln) and Julia Nightingale (Broadway’s The Ferryman with Sam Mendes).
Across his work, he is drawn to memorable melodies, lively characters, and the absurdities of human behavior—with room for tenderness amid the laughter.