Her first public performance was in pre-school, where she participated in a nursery school talent show singing Karma Chameleon by Culture Club. “I have been performing in some form or fashion since I was in a crib,” said Lee. Lee also takes on a number of other characters, swinging from a sympathetic theater-goer who listens to Usher’s despondency to Usher’s brother’s on-and-off girlfriend named Rafiki. Lee plays Thought 1 (AKA the overseer of Usher’s sexual ambivalence), one of six, personified thoughts swirling around Usher’s jam-packed head. In A Strange Loop, Usher, a Black, queer, fat theater usher, attempts to write a musical about a Black, queer, fat man writing a musical about a Black, queer, fat man, and so forth.
She figured if she didn’t receive a nomination, she could catch an extra hour of sleep and go about her day. Lee had originally planned to not watch the Tony nomination broadcast, but her own anxiety ultimately forced her to watch the announcements on her phone, in bed. “The thing that I always thought was impossible growing up suddenly, is sitting in front of me.”
“For this to happen, the opportunity to be one of those beautiful women in that space, it just puts me in disbelief,” said Lee to the Guardian in a video interview.
