Steven Levenson (born May 1984)
[ is an American ]playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
and television writer. He won the 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for '' Dear Evan Hansen''.
Early life
Levenson was raised in Bethesda, Maryland. He was raised in a Reform Jewish family. He attended St. Andrew's Episcopal School and Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
. He originally studied theater and English but then turned to playwriting.
In discussing his interests in writing, he said: "...it does seem that a lot of my work tends to move in that amilydirection. I do find the dynamics in the family to be fascinating and endlessly variable. Family is, obviously, among the most universal experiences."[Traiger, Lis]
"Questions & answers with … Steven Levenson"
washingtonjewishweek, July 29, 2015 Although he writes for television as well as the stage, he said: "Theater will always be my first love."[
]
Career
Stage
Levenson wrote the book for the musical ''Dear Evan Hansen'' which opened on Broadway in December 2016, after premiering at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC in 2015.
His stage playwriting credits include ''The Language of Trees'' (2008, Roundabout Theatre Company Black Box Theatre) and '' Seven Minutes in Heaven'' (2009).
''The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin'' was produced Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the Laura Pels Theatre, opening in June 2013. The play was produced under the Roundabout Theatre's New Play Initiative.
His play ''If I Forget'' opened Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre on February 22, 2017 and closed on April 30, 2017. Directed by Daniel Sullivan the cast featured Jeremy Shamos, Kate Walsh and Maria Dizzia.[''If I Forget'']
lortel.org, retrieved May 7, 2018
His play ''Days of Rage'' opened at the Off-Broadway Second Stage Theater's Tony Kiser Theatre on October 2, 2018 with direction by Trip Cullman. The play concerns activists in the late 1960s. ''Days of Rage'' was earlier presented at the Hartford Stage Brand New Play Festival in a reading in November 2011, directed by Darko Tresnjak.
Television
He was a writer for the Showtime series '' Masters of Sex'', which ran for four seasons, from 2013 to 2016.
Film
Personal life
Levenson is married to Whitney May, who has worked in art history and design history. They have a daughter, born in 2015.[Klug, Lisa]
"This nice Jewish boy just nabbed 9 Tony nominations"
''Times of Israel'', May 3, 2017
Awards and nominations
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Levenson, Steven
1984 births
21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
21st-century American male writers
American male dramatists and playwrights
American musical theatre librettists
American television writers
Brown University alumni
Jewish American writers
Living people
American male television writers
People from Bethesda, Maryland
Tony Award winners
Writers from Maryland
21st-century American screenwriters
21st-century American Jews