The Funkentine Rapture
A Funk Fable
A young man’s quest for his true funk—and the disco villain determined to stop him.
Book byLee Summers & Ben Blake
Music & Lyrics byLee Summers
- Cast
- 9 men, 6 women
From My Hometown
A rags-to-riches story of the American Dream told through classic R&B.
Conceived byLee Summers
Book byLee Summers, Ty Stephens & Herbert Rawlings, Jr.
Original Music byLee Summers, Ty Stephens & Will Barrow
- Cast
- 3 men
- Running time
- 90 min, no intermission
- Rating
- G
Ella, First Lady of Song
The life and music of Ella Fitzgerald—from her rise to fame to becoming the First Lady of Song.
Conceived byMaurice Hines
Book byLee Summers
- Cast
- 3 women, 1 man, plus 6 musicians
- Format
- Two acts
- Rating
- G
Bayard: The Musical
The untold story of Bayard Rustin—the gay Black visionary who helped shape the Civil Rights Movement while history nearly erased him.
Book, Music & Lyrics byLee Summers
- Cast
- 7 men, 4 women
I Remember Harlem: A Tap Dance Tale
A father-and-son story of healing, legacy, and the reclaiming of America’s first indigenous art form—tap dance.
Book, Music & Lyrics byKevin Ramsey & Lee Summers
- Cast
- 5 men, 2 women
Pangaea: The Musical
Seven sibling continents journey through past and future in a whimsical allegory that asks: can a divided world ever reconnect?
Book & Lyrics byLee Summers
Music byJanet Noh
Story byJanet Noh & Lee Summers
- Cast
- 7 leads plus ensemble of 13–17
The System
Three Black singers chasing Broadway dreams are swept into the criminal-justice system after a minor arrest changes their lives forever.
Book, Music, Lyrics & Poems byLee Summers
Additional Music byTimothy Graphenreed
- Cast
- 7
- Running time
- 90 min
- Rating
- PG
The House That Nat Built: A Nat King Cole Revue!
A musical journey celebrating Nat King Cole through the timeless songs he made famous.
Book byLee Summers
- Format
- One-person show with pianist
Yo’ Alice
A hip-hop reimagining of Alice in Wonderland about a young girl’s journey to find her voice and believe in herself.
Conceived byMaurice Hines
Book byLee Summers
Music & Lyrics byTimothy Graphenreed & Lee Summers
- Cast
- 10 men, 8 women, plus ensemble
The Siren Sisters
Two immortal siren sisters let one irresistible sailor live—and all three pay the ultimate price for a taste of human love.
Book & Lyrics byLee Summers
Music byJanet Noh
- Cast
- 2 women, 1 man
- Running time
- 20 minutes
Reviews for Lee’s Musicals
The Blue Suit, written and directed by Lee Summers, will appear in the Spark Theatre Festival NYC at the TADA! Theater, starring Lee Summers and Richard M. Waits. The short play explores a father and son confronting the impact of racial profiling and the search for dignity in a complicated world. Tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/sparktheatrefestival/2109269
The Blue Suit, written and directed by Lee Summers, will appear in the Spark Theatre Festival NYC at the TADA! Theater, starring Lee Summers and Richard M. Waits. The short play explores a father and son confronting the impact of racial profiling and the search for dignity in a complicated world. Tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/sparktheatrefestival/2109269
Lee Summers performs a wonderful and refreshingly unique and endearing tribute to my Dad!
(From My Hometown)…captures the spirit of Hitsville USA…
From My Hometown packs in more than 30 songs, including a tribute to the many “Three Man Groups” who paved the way for the breakthrough R&B, soul, funk and Motown acts.
An Energetic and Effervescing Summer Sensation – the high octane musical FROM MY HOMETOWN.
It’s a show that takes you to a musical time past, and the cast succeeds. It’s fun, fast-paced and well-sung.
They’re throwing a party at the American Heartland Theatre. Every night. It’s called From My Hometown…
FROM MY HOMETOWN is a success in virtually every department, largely because its creators have kept things streamlined and simple.
Exuberant and so full of life! (The creators) deserve high praise for knowing what it takes to get an audience on a musical high.
A marvelous trip down R&B memory lane … A great time at the theatre. There are too many fabulous songs to list them all; you have to go see it and experience the show!
FROM MY HOMETOWN hustles faster than any show in New York … The appeal of the show is the chance to hear your favorite tunes sung just the way they sound on the radio. Make no mistake, together, the trio could bring down the house.
You’d have to be stone cold dead not to find yourself tapping your feet and ‘putting your hands together’ during the R&B numbers. HOMETOWN is a fun, rousing evening.
Scads of sweet music and a charismatic cast elevate FROM MY HOMETOWN … A selection of great old songs.
FROM MY HOMETOWN is similar to Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp’s Moving Out – except in this terrific show, the dancers and singers are the same people.
A high energy, low maintenance roof raiser. The feel-good pocket musical features three dynamite performers. This sassy, soulful show must not be allowed to skip town at the end of its all-too-brief run.
Beginning at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, this paean to a more melodic time in popular music is a double dip into nostalgia. …A story of hope, struggle, friendship…ultimate triumph…
The song list glides through everything from “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” and “Sweet Georgia Brown” to selections from the “Songbook” albums Fitzgerald recorded celebrating great composers such as Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, and Rodgers and Hart.
The Funkentine Rapture is a delightful romp through an era and it’s music. Truly original, it evokes the spirit of Funk and Harlem of the 70’s as well as any jukebox musical ever could. In fact better. I highly recommend it.
…Three incredibly talented young men, are on stage for 90 minutes delivering the most tantalizing music and dancing from the past and present. The setting is the Big Apple, mostly in and around the Apollo Theater. The band is as good as it gets…
Lee Summers incorporation of the band being used as ensemble members was as brilliant as John Doyle using his Sweeney Todd ensemble as the pit orchestra. I was also moved by Lee’s brilliant timely direction of Ms. Payne’s performance of Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington’s “The Nearness of You”.