Baayork Lee Will Receive Tony Awards' 2017 Isabelle Stevenson Award
BroadwayWorld is happy to report that director, actress and choreographer Baayork Lee will be this year's recipient of the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award. Today, the Tony Awards Administration Committee announced that Lee will be honored for her longstanding commitment to future generations of artists through her work with the National Asian Artists Project and theatre education programs around the world.
The Isabelle Stevenson Award is presented annually to a member of the theatre community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.
"Baayork works tirelessly to break down cultural walls that often build up around what theatre goers consider 'traditional' musicals, and her dedication to fostering the next generation of performers and theatre professionals to do the same is exemplary. We are thrilled to honor her this year," said Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing, in a statement.
Lee was an original cast member and assistant choreographer of the 1976 Tony Award-winning Best Musical A Chorus Line who has staged many productions of the musical across the globe.
Baayork Lee is the Founder of National Asian Artists Project (NAAP), which is a community of artists, educators, administrators, community leaders, and professionals who work to showcase the work of Asian-American theater artists through performance, educational programming and community outreach. Through NAAP, Lee orchestrates her vision of educating, cultivating, and stimulating audiences and artists of Asian descent. The organization has produced productions of musical theatre staples like Oklahoma!; Carousel; Hello, Dolly!; Oliver! and Honor with all Asian-American casts. By turning a spot light onto the high-caliber talent of theatre artists of Asian descent, NAAP asserts, given the opportunity, the theatre and its audiences will embrace diverse American voices who strive to claim both new and classic American works as their own.
Lee has made it a large part of her mission to educate aspiring artists in musical theatre. She created musical theatre schools in Seoul, Korea; Tokyo, Japan; and the Theater Club at the Yung Wing Elementary School (PS124) in Chinatown, NY.
Lee is best known for creating the role of "Connie" in A Chorus Line, as well as serving as Michael Bennett's assistant choreographer on the production, of which she has directed and choreographed many national and international companies, most recently in Klagenfurt, Austria; Santiago, Chile; the Hollywood Bowl; and Pace University in New York City.
Her directing and choreography credits also include The King and I (national tour), Bombay Dreams (national tour), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (New York City Opera), Barnum (Australia), Carmen Jones (John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), Porgy and Bess (European tour), Jesus Christ Superstar (European tour), Gypsy and A New Brain. She has also choreographed Miss Saigon (Kansas City Starlight), Mack and Mabel (Shaw Festival), Animal Crackers, South Pacific, Coconuts, Camelot, and Damn Yankees, all at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.
She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including the 2014 Paul Robeson Award from Actors Equity Association, the Asian Woman Warrior Award for Lifetime Achievement from Columbia College, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Association Achievement in Arts Award, and the Dynamic Achiever Award from OCA Westchester.
