Desi Oakley

Desiree "Desi" Oakley is an American singer, actress, and songwriter born on June 12, 1989, in Kansas City, Kansas. She began performing at the age of eight, with early roles including Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, Eponine in Les Misérables, Gabriella in High School Musical, and Ariel in The Little Mermaid, developed through her work at Music Theatre Wichita. Oakley earned a BFA in Musical Theater from the University of Michigan in 2011.

Oakley made her Broadway debut on January 3, 2012, joining the cast of Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre as a swing before moving into the ensemble and covering the roles of Elphaba and Nessarose Thropp. Later that same year, she appeared in the Broadway revival of Annie at the Palace Theatre, where she was part of the ensemble and understudied the roles of Grace Farrell and Lily St. Regis. She subsequently joined the national tour of the 2012 revival of Evita as the alternate for the titular role, performing in the part twice per week.

In 2016, Oakley joined the cast of the Broadway revival of Les Misérables at the Imperial Theatre, serving in the ensemble and covering the role of Fantine. She remained with the production through its final performance on September 4, 2016. On May 13, 2019, she began playing Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway, completing three two-week engagements before her final performance on July 28, 2019.

Oakley originated the lead role of Jenna in the first national tour of Waitress, a performance for which she became widely recognized. She also stepped into the role at the West End production of Waitress at the Adelphi Theatre in January 2020, and reprised the character in summer 2024 at Ogunquit Playhouse and Wells Fargo Pavilion.

Beyond her stage work, Oakley has released several independent studio albums, including Don't Look Back in 2014, Repeat in 2019, and A Pocket of Time in 2020, with proceeds from digital downloads of the latter donated to the Dramatist Guild Foundation to support artists affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also released individual singles, among them White Butterfly and Winter Song, the latter featuring Becca White. In November 2019, Oakley and her Evita tour castmate Krystina Alabado launched Pop Rock Broadway, a Broadway training program for young actors based in New York City.