Lee Summers (born 1958) is an American acting teacher,

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and theatre producer. He is known for creating and producing Off-Broadway's '' From My Hometown''. As a director, Summers is a two-time winner of both the 2022 and 2018

Audelco AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City. AUDELCO presents the Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards (also known as Viv aw ...

Awards for 'Best Director of a Musical' for "Ella, First Lady of Song" and for "On Kentucky Avenue," respectively. As an actor, Summers made his Broadway debut in the original production of ''

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

''. His one-person show ''Winds of Change'' garnered him the 2010 "Best Entertainer"

Bistro Award Backstage is a prominent global casting platform and entertainment industry publication that connects performers, content creators, and behind-the-scenes professionals with casting directors and production teams across film, television, theate ...

. In 2018 he was nominated for an

Award for 'Best Featured Actor in a Musical,' for "On Kentucky Avenue." Summers has appeared in numerous TV/Film roles, such as Core FOI (

Fruit of Islam The Fruit of Islam (FOI) is the paramilitary wing of the Nation of Islam. The Fruit of Islam wear distinctive blue, brown, or white uniforms and caps and have units at all NOI temples. Louis Farrakhan, as head of the Nation of Islam, is commande ...

) in

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

starring Denzel Washington, a neurosurgeon on

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

; a turn-of-the-century cook on

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter for the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. The series sta ...

, and as a Police Sergeant, opposite

Tom Selleck Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series ''Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations fo ...

on ''

Blue Bloods ''Blue Bloods'' is an American police procedural drama (film and television), drama television series that aired on CBS from September 24, 2010, to December 13, 2024, across 14 seasons and 293 episodes. Its main characters were members of the fi ...

''.

Early life and career

Born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Summers' first professional job was performing on the Showboat at

Opryland USA Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially known as Opryland) was a amusement park, theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The park was located between the Cumberland River and Tennessee State Route 155, Briley Pa ...

while enrolled at

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

. An opportunity to tour singing the role of "Porgy" in Gershwin's

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

prompted Summers to leave TSU during his senior year. After the tour, Summers moved to New York (1980) where, on his first night in Manhattan, he'd meet choreographer Michael Peters (

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produced by Quincy Jones, and co-produced by Jackson. Jones encouraged Jackson to ...

), which led to his is Broadway debut. Years later, Summers reprised the role he played in the Original

for the

20th Anniversary Benefit Concert with

Lillias White Lillias White (born July 21, 1951) is an American actress and singer. She is particularly known for her performances in Broadway musicals. In 1989 she won an Obie Award for her performance in the off-Broadway musical '' Romance in Hard Times''. ...

, Billy Porter,

Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American singer and actress. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four acti ...

Norm Lewis Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway and in London's West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre. He is also noted for his wide vocal range. Lewis was the second ...

and

Heather Headley Heather Headley (born October 5, 1974) is a Trinidadian-born American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the title role of '' Aida''. She also won the 2010 Grammy A ...

. Later, at the invitation of Broadway vocal arranger Chapman Roberts (

Five Guys Named Moe ''Five Guys Named Moe'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book by Clarke Peters and lyrics and music by Louis Jordan and others. The musical is based on an earlier musical short of the same name by Louis Jordan from 1943. It had its UK debu ...

), Summers performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. In 1986, after a brief stint performing in Monte Carlo with

Jenifer Lewis Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films ''Beaches'' (1988) and '' Sister Act'' (1992). L ...

, Summers returned to Indiana to develop a one-man show, where when traveling one night he suffered a near-fatal car accident. On his journey to a full recovery, his voice as a stage writer emerged, leading to his creating and performing in what would become the Off-Broadway hit '' From My Hometown''. Writing led to Summers joining the

Dramatists Guild of America The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. It was born in 1921 out of the Authors Guild, known then as Authors League of America, formed in 1912. M ...

, and his work or incarnations thereof, have been produced and presented On and Off-Broadway, at numerous regional theatres such as the Milwaukee Repertory, where Summers collaborated with Kevin Ramsey to premiere their original tap-dance musical, ''If These Shoes Could Talk'', - now re-titled, "I Remember Harlem," starring tap dancer

Harold Nicholas Harold Lloyd Nicholas (March 27, 1921 – July 3, 2000) was an American dancer specializing in tap. Nicholas was the younger half of the tap-dancing pair the Nicholas Brothers, known as two of the world's greatest dancers. His older brother was ...

, of the legendary

Nicholas Brothers The Nicholas Brothers were an entertainment act composed of brothers, Fayard (1914–2006) and Harold (1921–2000), who excelled in a variety of dance techniques, primarily between the 1930s and 1950s. Best known for their unique interpretati ...

, in his farewell stage performance. For this work, Summers and Ramsey were the first recipients of The New Professional Theatre Award - an award later bestowed upon such notables as

Michael R. Jackson Michael R. Jackson (born 1981) is an American playwright, composer, and lyricist, best known for his musical '' A Strange Loop'', which won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2022 Tony Award for Best Musical. He is originally from Detroit. ...

Katori Hall Katori Hall (born May 10, 1981) is an American playwright and screenwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. Hall's best known works include the hit television series ''P-Valley'', the Tony-nominated ''Tina (musical), Tina: The Tina Turner Musical'', and p ...

and

Colman Domingo Colman Jason Domingo (born November 28, 1969) is an American actor, playwright, and director. Prominent Colman Domingo on screen and stage, on both screen and stage since the 2010s, Domingo has received List of awards and nominations received by ...

. Other venues and regional theatres where Summers' works have been produced include The Arkansas Repertory Theatre, The Ensemble Theatre, Karamu Theatre, The Phoenix Theatre, The Meadow Brook Theatre, The Madison Theatre at Molloy College, Theaterworks in Palo Alto, California, The Triad Theatre, New World Stages, AMAS Musical Theatre, Crossroads Theatre, RACCA's Seaport Salon, The Kirk Theatre, Gramercy Theatre, Radio City Music Hall's workshop spaces, The Kennedy Center and many others. Other notable projects in development include Summers as librettist, co-lyricist and co-composer with Timothy Graphenreed, for ''Yo' Alice'' (Adaptation of ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'') which was conceived by

Maurice Hines Maurice Robert Hines Jr. (December 13, 1943 – December 29, 2023) was an American actor, director, singer, and choreographer. He was the older brother of dancer Gregory Hines. Life and career Maurice Robert Hines Jr. was born on December 13, 1 ...

. Summers also collaborated with Hines on, ''Ella, First Lady of Song'' for which Summers currently serves as book writer/director. ''Ella, First Lady of Song'' premiered at New Jersey's

Crossroads Theatre Crossroads Theatre is an American residence theater company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, focused on the Black American experience and the African diaspora. It is in residence at the newly built New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, which opened i ...

in 2004 starring

Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944.) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best ...

( Band of Gold), again produced in 2014 by MetroStage in Alexandria, Virginia, followed by a production at the Delaware Theatre Company in 2018. In 2022, the musical was produced by the Madison Theatre at Molloy College garnering six

AUDELCO AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City. AUDELCO presents the Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards (also known as Viv aw ...

nominations, winning five, including "Best Musical." In 2023, Crossroads Theatre celebrated 20 years of ''Ella, First Lady of Song'' productions in "A Musical Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald Starring Freda Payne." The event was written and directed by Lee Summers. Crossroads founding producer, Ricardo Khan and Board Member Emeritus, Richard Nurse credited Hines and Summers' ''Ella, First Lady of Song'' as the musical that garnered the revenue to reopen the then closed

, which, after winning the 1999 Tony Award for "Best Regional Theatre," had closed its doors by 2003. Summers'

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

musical, ''The Funkentine Rapture,'' was selected for the 2005 National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival ( NAMT) starring

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

Winner Billy Porter and presented in workshop at Theatreworks (

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

), directed by Robert Kelly. ''The Funkentine Rapture'' was presented in concert at

54 Below 54 Below is a nonprofit cabaret and restaurant in the basement of Studio 54 in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Run by Broadway producers Steve Baruch, Richard Frankel, Marc Routh and Tom Viertel, 54 Below has hosted shows by such performer ...

in June 2017, starring

Winners,

James Monroe Iglehart James Monroe Iglehart (born September 4, 1974)"Iglehar ...

and

. Summers made his producing debut in 2003—partnering with Amas Musical theatre and Ben Blake for the developmental production of From My Hometown. The production transferred commercially to the

Gramercy Theatre The Gramercy Theatre is a music venue in New York City. It is located in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan, on 127 East 23rd Street. Built in 1937 as the Gramercy Park Theatre, it is owned and operated by Live Nation as one of their two ...

in 2004 with Summers as Lead Producer. As a director, Summers, also 2022's winner for BroadwayWorld's "Best Director of a Musical" for Hawaii Performing Arts Festival's production of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'': The Tribal Love-Rock Musical has directed works in venues ranging from New York's Urban Stages, AMAS Musical Theatre, The John Houseman Theatre,

New World Stages New World Stages is a five-theater, Off-Broadway performing arts complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is between 49th and 50th Streets beneath the plaza of the Worldwide Plaza complex at Eighth Avenue. ...

, The Triad Theatre, Flushing Town Hall, The

Milwaukee Repertory Theater Milwaukee Repertory Theater ("Milwaukee Rep") is a theater company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded as the Fred Miller Theatre Company, the group is housed in the Associated Bank Theater Center, which includes the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, th ...

, The Cell Theatre, Harlem Repertory Theatre, The Pearl Theatre Company to name a few. Summers directed the World Premiere of ''Acappella The Musical'' for the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) garnering three "Excellence Awards" in 2015. Summers studied theatre at

and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Dramatic Writing from SUNY

Empire State College Empire State University (SUNY Empire) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State University is a multi-site institution offering associate degre ...

. He has an MFA in musical theatre writing from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

and has served as an adjunct professor at New York University

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as NYU Steinhardt) is the education school of New York University. The school was founded as the School of Pedagogy in 1890. Prior to ...

's department of Music and Performing Arts Professions since 2020.

Work

Stage Director (Recent)

* 2023 ''Ella, First Lady of Song'' (Director) * 2022 '' Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical'' (Director) * 2022 ''Ella, First Lady of Song'' (Director) * 2018 ''On Kentucky Avenue'' (Director)

Librettist

* 1993 ''If These Shoes Could Talk''(Co-librettist) * 1998 ' From My Hometown (Conceiver) (Co-librettist) * 1999 ''Yo Alice''(Librettist) * 2004 ''

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

: First Lady of Song''(Librettist) * 2005 ''The Funkentine Rapture''(Co-librettist) * 2013 ''The System'' (Librettist) * 2014 ''

: First Lady of Song''(Librettist) * 2018 ''Pangaea The Musical'' (Librettist) * 2018 ''

: First Lady of Song'' (Librettist) * 2022 ''

'' (Librettist)

Lyricist

* 1993 ''If These Shoes Could Talk'' (Co-lyricist) * 1998 ''From My Hometown'' (Conceiver) (Co-lyricist) (Lyricist) * 1999 ''Yo Alice''(Co-lyricist) * 2005 ''The Funkentine Rapture'' (Lyricist) * 2010 ''Winds of Change'' (Co-lyricist) (Lyricist) * 2013 ''The System''(Co-lyricist) (Lyricist) * 2016 ''Bayard The Musical'' (Lyricist) * 2018 ''Pangaea The Musical'' (Lyricist)

Composer

* 1993 ''If These Shoes Could Talk''(Co-Composer) * 1998 From My Hometown (Conceiver) (Co-Composer) * 1999 ''Yo Alice'' (Co-Composer) * 2005 ''The Funkentine Rapture'' (Composer) * 2010 ''Winds of Change'' (Composer) * 2013 ''The System''(Composer) * 2016 ''Bayard The Musical'' (Composer)

Playwright

* 2016 ''Poetics Justice''(Author) (Published) * 2013 ''One Shot Deal''(Author) (Published)

Producer

* 2003 From My Hometown (Kirk Theatre, New York City) * 2004 From My Hometown (Gramercy Theatre, New York City * 2010 ''Winds of Change'' (Triad Theatre)

Television and film actor

* 1992

...Elijah Muhammad's FOI * 1994 ''Law and Order'' (TV Series)- Coma (1994) ... Dr. David Monroe * 1996 ''Law and Order'' (TV Series)- Causa Mortis (1996) ... Belmont Uniform Policeman * 1997 ''New York Undercover'' (TV Series)- Fade Out (1997) ... Walter Stokes * 2003 ''The presidents'' (PBS VIdeo)Colin Powell / Secret Service Man * 2011

(TV Series) – Battle of the Century (2011) ... Otis * 2013 ''Blue Bloods'' (TV Series) – The City That Never Sleeps (2013) ... Sgt. Stiles

Stage actor and singer

* 1981 ''Dreamgirls'' (Original Broadway Production) * 2001 ''Dreamgirls 20th Anniversary''(Broadway Event) * 2001 ''Little Ham''(Off-Broadway) * 2010 ''Winds of Change''(Cabaret – Bistro Award Winner)

Awards and competitions

Summers' works have received critical acclaim along with such honors as The New Professional Theatre's "Our Voices Award" (1996) eight

AUDELCO Award AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City. AUDELCO presents the Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards (also known as Viv aw ...

nominations including "Best Musical" (2003), selection and presentation in the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals(2005), TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, California (2005), a developmental workshop at Radio City Musical Hall (1999), developmental support from the Shubert Organization (2003), a Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Theatre Foundation Commendation for his body of work in American Musical Theater (2003), New York's Bistro Award(2010) and four Michigan 2012 Wilde Award nominations and a recent win for Best Ensemble (2012). 2010

winner 'Outstanding Achievement, Entertainer' 2018

Award Nomination and Winner for 'Best Director of a Musical,' for "On Kentucky Avenue" 2018

Award Nomination for 'Best Featured Actor in a Musical,' for "On Kentucky Avenue" 2022

Award Nomination and Winner for 'Best Director of a Musical,' for "Ella, First Lady of Song" 2022

Broadway World BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City, New York. Launched in 2003, the site covers Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and international theater productions, with sections devoted to particular countries, cities, or regi ...

Award Nomination and Winner for 'Best Director of a Musical,' for "Hair"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Lee 1958 births African-American composers African-American dramatists and playwrights African-American male composers African-American theater directors American theatre directors 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American dramatists and playwrights American librettists American male singers Living people Male actors from Tennessee Mass media people from Nashville, Tennessee 21st-century African-American people