Michael K. Lee (born June 5, 1973) is an American actor and singer who is based in

Seoul, Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Early life and education

Lee was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

to Susie and Won Yub Lee. He was raised in

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, a small Native American reservation town near Buffalo, where his father, a surgeon, set up his practice. Theirs was the only Asian American family in the town. He played both violin and piano, and performed in the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra. He is a graduate of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where he studied psychology on a

pre-med Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students mostly in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med ...

track and sang with the Stanford Fleet Street Singers.

Career

Lee's career began in 1995, when he was cast in the second national tour of ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a sung-through musical theatre, stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madama Butterfly'', and similarly tells th ...

''. He auditioned for the show on three occasions before he was cast. Lee went on to join the Broadway production of ''Miss Saigon'' (Thuy). His other Broadway credits include ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (Simon Zealotes), ''

Pacific Overtures ''Pacific Overtures'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by John Weidman, with "additional material by" Hugh Wheeler. Set in nineteenth-century Japan, it tells the story of the country's westernization starting ...

'' (Kayama), and ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

''. From 2015 to 2016, Lee starred in the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

Allegiance An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign. Etymology The word ''allegiance'' comes from Middle English ' (see Medieval Latin ', "a liegance"). The ...

'' on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, a show about

George Takei George Takei ( ; born April20, 1937), born , is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS ''Enterprise'' in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. Takei was born to Japanese-American parents, with w ...

's life experiences (who starred in the musical alongside Lee). In the show, Lee reprised the role of Frankie Suzuki, a character based on real-life political activist Frank S. Emi. The role had won him the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle's Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in 2012, during the ''Allegiance'''s run at the Old Globe there. ''Allegiance'' began Broadway previews on October 6, 2015, and opened on November 8, 2015, running through early 2016. Lee has starred in numerous productions in Seoul, including ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

'' (

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

), ''Miss Saigon'' (Chris), ''

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens (played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce) and a transgender woman (Terence St ...

'' (Tick), ''Notre Dame de Paris'' (Gringoire), ''Amour'' (Dusoleil), and ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'' (Ashley). His other international credits include ''Where Elephants Weep'' in

Phnom Penh, Cambodia Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

, ''They’re Playing Our Song'' in

Manila, Philippines Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is ...

(opposite

Lea Salonga Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, ( ; born February 22, 1971) is a Filipino singer and actress. Known primarily for her work in theatre, she has starred in musicals on Broadway and in the West End. Her accolades include a Tony Award and a L ...

), and ''A Twist of Fate'' in Singapore (opposite Laura Michelle Kelley). Lee portrayed Tommy in ''

The Who's Tommy ''The Who's Tommy'' is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Pete Townshend and a book by Townshend and Des McAnuff. It is based on the 1969 rock opera '' Tommy'' by The Who. Productions The musical opened at La Jolla Playhouse in San Di ...

'', winning a Seattle Footlight Award for Best Actor in a Musical; Judas and Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar,

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

in '' Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular''; and Jamie Willerstein in ''

The Last Five Years ''The Last Five Years'' is a musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and was then produced Off-Broadway in March 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both in the United States an ...

''.

Personal life

As of 2013, he lives in Seoul, Korea. He is married to actress Kim Varhola.

Theater

TV shows

* 2017: '' Phantom Singer 2'', jury member *2020: ''

King of Mask Singer ''The King of Mask Singer'' () is a South Korean singing competition program presented by Kim Sung-joo, with introductions by voice actor . It airs on MBC on Sunday, starting from April 5, 2015 as a part of MBC's '' Sunday Night'' programming ...

'' ( MBC), contestant as "Half Moon Prince" (episodes 247–248) *2023: ''

XO, Kitty ''XO, Kitty'' is an American romantic comedy drama television series created by Jenny Han for Netflix that premiered on May 18, 2023. It is a spin-off of the ''To All the Boys'' film series (itself an adaptation of Han's book trilogy '' To Al ...

'' (

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

), Professor Lee of Korean Independent School of Seoul (KISS)

References

1973 births Living people Male actors from Brooklyn Stanford University alumni 21st-century American singers American male actors of Korean descent {{US-singer-stub