Jelani Alladin

Jelani Alladin is an American actor, singer, and dancer born on August 6, 1992, in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He attended high school in New Canaan, Connecticut, where he balanced athletics and performance, competing in lacrosse and track while taking on lead roles in school productions including the Emcee in Cabaret and the Cat in the Hat in Seussical. He went on to study at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where his training encompassed cinema acting, song and dance acting, and vocal performance.

Before reaching Broadway, Alladin built a substantial record in regional and Off-Broadway theater. His regional credits include Choir Boy at a regional venue, for which he received the San Francisco Critics Circle Award for Best Leading Actor playing Pharus, as well as productions of I and You at TheatreSquared, The History Boys at Palm Beach Dramaworks, Violet at Clarence Brown Theatre, and the world premiere of Josephine at Asolo Rep. Off-Broadway, he appeared at York Theatre in the New York City premiere of Lord Tom and in a revival of Don't Bother Me I Can't Cope, and he starred as Cat Jones in Sweetee.

Alladin made his Broadway debut in 2018, originating the role of Kristoff in the musical Frozen. The performance earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. After a year in the production, he departed Frozen to play the title role in the musical Hercules.

Alladin's screen work began in 2014 with an appearance as Deke in High Noon on the West Side. More recently, he starred as Marcus Gaines in the 2023 miniseries Fellow Travelers, a production recognized with an award for chronicling LGBTQ+ history over fifty years.