Broadway Veteran Baayork Lee to Direct West Side Story in 2024

Starlight will produce West Side Story August 20-25 as part of the AdventHealth Broadway Series.

Starlight is pleased to announce that renowned director, choreographer, and Tony Award recipient Baayork Lee will return to Kansas City’s historic stage to direct the classic Broadway musical West Side Story, playing August 20-25, 2024. Previously, Lee choreographed Starlight’s production of Miss Saigon in 2013, which went on to tour at a number of theatres across the country, and The King and I in 2004.

Lee debuted on Broadway at just five years old in the original production of The King and I alongside Yul Brynner and was cast soon thereafter in George Balanchine’s original production of The Nutcracker. She performed in dozens of Broadway shows including originating the role of Connie in A Chorus Line, a role that was based on her life. Lee has directed and/or overseen Michael Bennett’s famed choreography of A Chorus Line for more than forty national and international productions of the show including productions on Broadway, in the West End, and a recent production in Spain starring Antonio Banderas.

Her directing and choreography credits include The King and I and Bombay Dreams (national tours), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (NYC Opera), Barnum (Australia), Carmen Jones (Kennedy Center), Porgy and Bess and Jesus Christ Superstar (European tours), and she has choreographed multiple productions at Arena Stage and Washington National Opera. For PBS, Lee directed “Wicked in Concert.”

In 2017, The Broadway League awarded Lee the Isabelle Stevens Tony Award for her significant contributions to charitable causes. She co-founded a nonprofit organization, National Asian Artists Project (NAAP) with a vision to educate, cultivate, and stimulate audiences and artists of Asian descent through outreach programs.

“Baayork Lee is a Broadway great, and her work attests to it,” Lindsey Rood-Clifford, President + C.E.O. of Starlight, said. “We were lucky to have her as part of our creative teams for Miss Saigon and The King and I, and we can’t wait for her to direct our upcoming production of West Side Story. She is one of the most well-respected members of the theatre community and will continue to raise the bar for a fantastic production of this classic show at Starlight.”

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is transported to New York City in the Tony Award-winning musical, West Side Story. Two young, idealistic lovers find themselves caught between warring street gangs, the “American” Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. Their struggle to survive in a world of hate, violence and prejudice is one of the most innovative, heart-wrenching and relevant musical dramas of our time. With a score by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story has become one of the most memorable musicals and greatest love stories of all time.