Baayork Lee is a performer, director, and choreographer. She is best known for originating the role of “Connie Wong” in A CHORUS LINE (1975), assisting Michael Bennett with the choreography. Since then, she has directed and choreographed many national and international productions of the musical, including the 2006 Broadway revival. Her Off-Broadway work includes: choreographing IN THE BOOM BOOM ROOM (1974) at the Public Theater and I CAN’T KEEP RUNNING IN PLACE (1981), as well as directing CINDERELLA (2004) and GREETINGS FROM YORKVILLE (2007).

Born in Chinatown, New York City, Baayork Lee began her career at five years old when she appeared in the original Broadway production of The King and I (1951). Her other Broadway credits include: Flower Drum Song (1958), Golden Boy (1964), and Promises, Promises (1975). She has directed and choreographed numerous national and international tours, as well as regional productions at venues such as Arena Stage and the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center. She is one of the founders of the National Asian Artists Project, which aims to provide opportunities for actors of Asian descent through performance, outreach, and educational programming.  In 1976, she and the cast of A Chorus Line won the Theatre World Award for Ensemble Performance. She was the recipient of the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Asian Woman Warrior Award from Columbia College Chicago, the 2014 Paul Robeson Citation Award presented by Actors’ Equity Foundation, and the 2017 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award.