L Morgan Lee
American musical theater actress
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
L Morgan Lee is an American theatre 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, and was credited as the first openly transgender actor to be nominated for a Tony Award.[1][2]
L Morgan Lee | |
|---|---|
Lee at a Paper event in November 2022 | |
| Education | University of the Arts[1] |
| Occupations | Actress, singer |
| Website | lmorganlee |
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. She studied musical theater at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.[1]
Career
Lee joined A Strange Loop in 2015 after Michael R. Jackson reached out to her on Facebook and asked her to do a reading.[3] She continued with the show during its off-Broadway premiere at Playwrights Horizons, playing the role of Thought 1, where she won an Obie Award and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.[4][5] In 2021, Lee portrayed Lili Elbe in a workshop for a musical adaptation of The Danish Girl in England.[6]
Lee transferred with A Strange Loop to Broadway in 2022. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical at the 75th Tony Awards, becoming the first openly transgender performer to be nominated for a Tony.[1][2]
In 2025, it was announced Lee would direct a one-night benefit concert of The Drowsy Chaperone at Carnegie Hall with a cast composed entirely of trans and non-binary performers.[7]
Discography
Cast & concept recordings
- A Strange Loop – Original Cast Recording (2019), Grammy Award nominated album[8]
- Soft Butter – Concept Recording (2019)
Collaborative projects
- The Broadway Rainbow Lullaby Album - "The Dream" (2021)
- Her Sound: Volume 3 - "Nazareth" (2022)
- Album (Joe Iconis) - "Play the Princess" (2022)
Stage
| † | Denotes upcoming roles |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | A Strange Loop | Thought 1 | Off-Broadway, Playwrights Horizons | [9] |
| 2021 | Regional, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | [10] | ||
| The Danish Girl | Lili Elbe | Workshop, New Theatre Peterborough | [6] | |
| 2022 | A Strange Loop | Thought 1 | Broadway, Lyceum Theatre | [11] |
| 2024 | A Complicated Woman | Nina Mae | Regional, Goodspeed Musicals | [12] |
| Fiorello! | Mitzi Travers | Concert, Classic Stage Company | [13] | |
| 2025 | All Shook Up | Sylvia | Regional, Goodspeed Musicals | [14] |
| The Drowsy Chaperone† | Director | Benefit Concert, Carnegie Hall | [7] |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Show | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | A Strange Loop | Nominated | [5] |
| Obie Award | Special Citation | Won | [4] | ||
| 2022 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical | Nominated | [2][15] | |
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Nominated | [16] | ||
| 2024 | HRC Visibility Award | Won | [17] | ||
