L Morgan Lee

L Morgan Lee (born July 5, 1980) 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]

L Morgan Lee
Lee at Paper (magazine) event in Nov 2022.
Born	(1980-07-05) July 5, 1980 (age 45)
Education	University of the Arts (BFA)
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer
Website	lmorganlee.com

Early life

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]

Career

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]

Discography

Cast & Concept recordings

• A Strange Loop – Original Broadway Cast (2022), Grammy Award Nominated Album
• Soft Butter – Concept Recording (2019)
• A Strange Loop – Original Cast Recording (2019)

Collaborative projects

• Album (Joe Iconis) - "Play the Princess" (2022)
• Her Sound: Volume 3 - "Nazareth" (2022)
• The Broadway Rainbow Lullaby Album - "The Dream" (2021)

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
2019	A Strange Loop	Thought 1	Off-Broadway, Playwrights Horizons	[6]
2021			Regional, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
	The Danish Girl	Lili Elbe	Workshop, New Theatre Peterborough
2022	A Strange Loop	Thought 1	Broadway, Lyceum Theatre
2024	A Complicated Woman	Nina Mae	Regional, Goodspeed Musicals	[7]
	Fiorello!	Mitzi Travers	Concert at Classic Stage Company
2025	All Shook Up	Sylvia	Regional, Goodspeed Musicals
	The Drowsy Chaperone	Director	Benefit Concert, Carnegie Hall

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Show	Result	Ref
2020	Lucille Lortel Awards	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical	A Strange Loop	Nominated	[8]
	Obie Award	Special Citation		Won	[9]
2022	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical		Nominated	[10][11]
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance		Nominated	[12]
2024	HRC Visibility Award			Won	[13]