L Morgan Lee | |
|---|---|
 Lee at Paper (magazine) event in Nov 2022. | |
| Education | University of the Arts (BFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer |
| Website | lmorganlee |
L Morgan Lee is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the 2022 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in A Strange Loop on Broadway, making history as the first openly transgender actor to be nominated for a Tony Award. [1] [2]
Lee grew up in suburban Maryland. [3] She began performing in her early childhood by singing in her nursery school's talent show. [4] She began studying voice at 14 at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. At 17, she was a Top 10 Finalist for Wolf Trap's Catherine Filene Shouse Award for Classical Voice. She went on to study musical theater at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. [4]
Shortly after graduating from UArts, Lee moved to New York City and was quickly cast in a National tour. Next, she danced her way through Europe in a tour of Jesus Christ Superstar directed and choreographed by Baayork Lee. She went on to do a number of off-Broadway, Regional shows, and tours. It was through a Facebook exchange in 2015 that Lee was invited to do a reading of A Strange Loop at the Musical Theatre Factory in New York City. [3] She continued with the show through its 2019 World Premiere off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons where she won an Obie Award and received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.
In 2021, Lee traveled to the UK to play artist Lili Elbe in a musical adaptation of The Danish Girl being developed in London.
Lee made her Broadway debut in 2022 when A Strange Loop transferred to the Lyceum Theater. The show received rave reviews and went on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical. For her performance as Thought 1, Lee was nominated for her first Tony Award. [5]
| Year | Award | Category | Show | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | A Strange Loop | Nominated | [6] |
| Obie Award | Special Citation | Won | [7] | ||
| Antonyo Awards | Best Featured Performance in a Musical, Off-Broadway | Nominated | [8] | ||
| 2021 | Mark O'Donnell Prize | Won | [9] | ||
| 2022 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical | A Strange Loop | Nominated | [10] [11] |
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Nominated | [12] | ||
| Antonyo Awards | Best Featured Performance in a Musical, Broadway | Won | |||
| 2024 | HRC Visibility Award | Won | [13] | ||
Shoshana E. Bean is a Tony-nominated American singer, songwriter, and stage actress. She has appeared in numerous musicals, performing in major Off-Broadway and Broadway theatres, including in the original production of Hairspray.
Sherie Rene Scott is an American actor, singer, writer and producer. She has been seen in multiple Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals, on numerous solo and original cast recordings, and in various film and television roles.
Lucille Lortel was an American actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly 500 plays, five of which were nominated for Tony Awards: As Is by William M. Hoffman, Angels Fall by Lanford Wilson, Blood Knot by Athol Fugard, Mbongeni Ngema's Sarafina!, and A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing. She also produced Marc Blitzstein's adaptation of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, a production which ran for seven years and according to The New York Times "caused such a sensation that it...put Off-Broadway on the map."
Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are Black. She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for her play Ruined, and in 2017 for her play Sweat. She was the first woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama two times.
LaChanze Sapp-Gooding, known professionally as LaChanze, is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical in 2006 for her role as Celie Harris Johnson in The Color Purple. In 2023, LaChanze received two more Tony Awards, this time as a producer. She served as co-producer on Kimberly Akimbo, which won the Tony for Best New Musical and Topdog/Underdog, which won for Best Revival of a Play.
MCC Theater is an off-Broadway theater company located in New York City. The theater was founded in 1986 by artistic directors Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey and William Cantler. Blake West joined the company in 2006 as executive director. MCC opened its current location in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, as The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, on January 9, 2019.
Lois Arlene Smith is an American actress whose career spans eight decades. She made her film debut in the 1955 drama film East of Eden, and later played supporting roles in a number of movies, including Five Easy Pieces (1970), Resurrection (1980), Fatal Attraction (1987), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Falling Down (1993), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Dead Man Walking (1995), Twister (1996), Minority Report (2002), The Nice Guys (2016), Lady Bird (2017), and The French Dispatch (2021).
The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Foundation, with additional support from the Theatre Development Fund.
The 62nd Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 15, 2008. The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre. CBS television broadcast the event from Radio City Music Hall in New York City as it has since the 51st Awards ceremony in 1997. The event recognized Broadway productions playing during the 2007 – 2008 season and was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg.
Derek McLane is an American set designer for theatre, opera, and television. He graduated with a BA from Harvard College and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
Alex Timbers is an American writer and director best known for his work on stage and television. He has received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Drama Desk Award, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award. Timbers received the Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the Jerome Robbins Award for Directing.
Jayne Houdyshell is an American actress. Known for being a prolific character actor in theater, film, and television, Houdyshell has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, two Obie Awards, and a Drama Desk Award.
Linda Marie Emond is an American stage, film, and television actress. She has received three Tony Award nominations for her performances in Life (x) 3 (2003), Death of a Salesman (2012), and Cabaret (2014).
Deirdre O'Connell is an American character actress who has worked extensively on stage, screen, and television. She has won a Tony Award and been nominated for Drama Desk Awards, among other awards and nominations.
David Cromer is an American theatre director, and stage, film, and TV actor. He has received recognition for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including winning the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for his direction of Our Town. He was nominated for the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for his direction of The Adding Machine. In 2018, Cromer won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Band's Visit.
Dave Malloy is an American composer, playwright, lyricist, singer, orchestrator, and actor. He has written several theatrical works, often based on classic works of literature. His most well known work is the Tony Award winning Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, an electropop opera based on War and Peace. His other works include Moby-Dick, an adaptation of Herman Melville's classic novel; Octet, a chamber choir musical about internet addiction; Preludes, a musical fantasia set in the mind of romantic composer Sergei Rachmaninoff; and Ghost Quartet, a song cycle about "love, death, and whiskey".
Rachel Chavkin is an American stage director best known for directing the musicals Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 and Hadestown, receiving nominations for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for both and winning for Hadestown in 2019.
The 75th Tony Awards were held on June 12, 2022, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2021–22 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with Ariana DeBose serving as host of the main ceremony, and Darren Criss and Julianne Hough co-hosting a streaming pre-show.
Larry Owens is an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer. He received a Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award for his leading performance in the off-Broadway musical A Strange Loop. He has acted on television shows including Search Party, High Maintenance, Modern Love and Abbott Elementary.
Kecia Lewis, also credited as Kecia Lewis-Evans is an American singer and actress, known primarily for her work on the stage. In 2017, her performance as Sister Rosetta Tharpe in Marie and Rosetta earned her an Obie Award and a nomination for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play. In 2006, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance as Dorcas in Dessa Rose. Her performance in Hell's Kitchen earned her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, a Lucille Lortel Award, a Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Drama Desk Award.