Writer | Composer

Lee Summers is an award-winning writer, composer, and lyricist whose work for the stage celebrates Black culture through story, music, and theatrical collaboration. Over more than four decades in musical theatre, his writing draws on traditions of soul, rhythm and blues, jazz, and contemporary musical theatre, blending classic influences with original storytelling. He holds an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

He is the creator and writer of the Off-Broadway musical From My Hometown, now licensed through Concord Theatricals, a leading global theatrical licensing house, and produced by regional theatres nationwide. He is also the writer /director of Ella, First Lady of Song, conceived by Maurice Hines, an award-winning production presented across the country.

Additional works include The Funkentine Rapture (in development); If These Shoes Could Talk, which premiered at Milwaukee Repertory Theater and featured Harold Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers in his final stage performance; and The System: Stop Frisking and All That Jazz, a musical addressing contemporary social issues that has been included in university curricula.

Summers maintains a catalog of original songs spanning musical theatre, soul, and contemporary genres. Selected recordings are available on streaming platforms through the album Soulriginals: Songs from the Vault of Lee Summers. Industry demos and materials from several stage works are available upon request. To explore his catalog of original songs, visit the Songwriter page under About.

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