Stephen Trask (born Stephen R. Schwartz; born August 29, 1966) is an American musician and composer who graduated from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

. He was the music director and house band member at the New York City club Squeezebox, where they performed with stars such as

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

Lene Lovich Lene Lovich (; born Lili-Marlene Premilovich; March 30, 1949) is an English-American singer, songwriter and musician. She first gained attention in 1979 with the release of her hit single "Lucky Number", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Single ...

and

Joey Ramone Jeffrey Ross Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American musician, best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. His image, voice, and his tenure with the R ...

. Trask composed the music and lyrics for the stage musical '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (also a 2001 film), about a struggling rock star named Hedwig. Trask's real-life band Cheater performed as Hedwig's band "The Angry Inch". He received an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

for the play and a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination for the movie. In 2014, the show saw its first Broadway incarnation, opening that April at the

Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York Ci ...

and winning the year's

Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical The Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical has been awarded since 1994. Before that time, both plays and musicals were considered together for the Tony Award for Best Revival. The award is given to the best musical play which has already appeared ...

. The production closed on September 13, 2015. A national tour of the show began at San Francisco's

Golden Gate Theatre The Golden Gate Theatre is a performance venue located at 1 Taylor Street at the corner of Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco, California. It opened in 1922 as a vaudeville house and later was a major movie theater. In the 1960s it boasted a Ci ...

on October 2, 2016. Trask has worked on five films with filmmaker Paul Weitz. He composed the score for 2004's '' In Good Company'' and 2006's ''

American Dreamz ''American Dreamz'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Paul Weitz. It satirizes both popular entertainment and American politics during the second Bush administration, called a "cultural satire" by Weitz. Reviews were mixed and the f ...

,'' for which they also co-wrote the numerous songs the contestants sing, as well as the 2009 film '' Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant''. Trask also scored the 2003 films ''

Camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

'' and ''

The Station Agent ''The Station Agent'' is a 2003 American independent psychological comedy-drama film written and directed by Tom McCarthy in his directorial debut. It stars Peter Dinklage as a man who seeks solitude in an abandoned train station in the Newfoun ...

'', as well as ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

'' (2006), ''

In the Land of Women ''In the Land of Women'' is a 2007 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and written by Jon Kasdan. The film premiered in the United States on April 20, 2007. Plot Carter Webb is a young, soft-core writer living in Los Angeles whose youn ...

'' (2007), '' The Savages'' (2007), and ''

The Back-up Plan ''The Back-up Plan'' (previously known as ''Plan B'') is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Alan Poul, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin.Siegel, Tatiana, and Michael Fleming"Jennifer Lopez going with 'Plan B': CBS Films s ...

'' (2010), among other works. He scored the 2010 film ''

Little Fockers ''Little Fockers'' (known as ''Meet the Parents: Little Fockers'' in the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia) is a 2010 American comedy film and the third and final film in the ''Meet the Parents'' film series, serving as a sequel to ''Meet the Par ...

'', a sequel to both '' Meet the Parents'' (2000) and '' Meet the Fockers'' (2004). In 2013, Trask scored the films '' Lovelace'', directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffery Friedman, and ''

Admission Admission may refer to: Arts and media * "Admissions" (''CSI: NY''), an episode of ''CSI: NY'' * ''Admissions'' (film), a 2011 short film starring James Cromwell * ''Admission'' (film), a 2013 comedy film * ''Admission'', a 2019 album by Florida s ...

'', directed by Paul Weitz.

Personal life

Trask resides in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, with his husband Michael Trask, who is a professor at the University of Kentucky. They were married by their neighbor, former state senator

Kathy Stein Kathy Stein (born 1955) is an attorney, former member of the Kentucky General Assembly and retired circuit clerk judge. She served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1997 to 2009 before being elected to represent the 13th Kentucky Sen ...

. Trask grew up in Connecticut, in a Jewish household. He also went to Hebrew school, had a Bar Mitzvah, and both his parents were involved in the synagoguehis father was head of the youth program there. His mother's maiden name is Rhodes. Trask announced he was non-binary in May 2021, and goes by he/him and they/them pronouns.

References

External links

* * Living people American film score composers American musical theatre composers Wesleyan University alumni American musical theatre directors American gay musicians 1967 births Lambda Literary Award for Drama winners 20th-century American Jews Hedwig and the Angry Inch LGBT Jews Non-binary musicians LGBT songwriters 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American Jews LGBT people from Kentucky {{US-composer-20thC-stub