Keala Settle

Keala Settle is an American-born British singer and actress born on November 5, 1975, in Laie, Hawaii. Working primarily in musical theatre and film, she has built a career spanning Broadway, national tours, West End productions, and screen work.

Settle made her Broadway debut in 2011 in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, playing Shirley and performing in the ensemble. Her next Broadway credit, Hands on a Hardbody, proved a defining moment in her stage career. She originated the role of Norma Valverde in the 2013 production, a musical adapted from the 1997 documentary about contestants competing to win a new truck. The performance earned her nominations for the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and she received the Theatre World Award for outstanding debut performance during the 2012–13 theatrical season. Beginning in March 2014 and running through March 1, 2015, she played Madame Thénardier in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables. In 2016, Settle joined the original Broadway cast of Waitress, originating the role of Becky when the production opened on April 24 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre following its premiere at the American Repertory Theater in August 2015.

Before her Broadway career, Settle performed in national tours. She played Tracy Turnblad in the national tour of Hairspray, with a stop at the Kennedy Center in 2005. She subsequently appeared in the national tour of the Lincoln Center production of South Pacific, joining in 2009 as Bloody Mary. Settle has spoken about her background as an R&B singer rather than a musical theatre performer, noting that her mother was also an R&B singer and that she spent years doing studio work and singing backup, including for Gladys Knight in Las Vegas. After her run in Hairspray, she worked backstage with designers for several years before being cast in South Pacific.

Beyond Broadway and touring productions, Settle took on regional and concert work. In late 2012, she played Mrs. Fezziwig in a production of A Christmas Carol at Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City. In July 2013, she performed the role of the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine. That same month, she appeared in the Encores! concert staging of Violet alongside Sutton Foster, though she did not continue to the Broadway revival, having committed to Les Misérables; Annie Golden replaced her in that production.

In 2017, Settle portrayed Lettie Lutz, a bearded lady, in the biographical musical film The Greatest Showman, alongside Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, and Zendaya. The song "This Is Me," principally performed by Settle, won the 2018 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. On December 22, 2017, she released an extended play titled Chapter One. In 2019, she played Cy, a gender-flipped version of the character Paul combined with soloist 1, in Fox's Rent: Live. That same year she toured globally with Hugh Jackman during his The Man. The Music. The Show. concerts, performing "This Is Me" and debuting her original song "Harder" before a live audience for the first time. She also performed "This Is Me" at the 2021 Royal Variety Performance.

In 2018, Settle appeared in Todrick Hall's visual album Forbidden, contributing to the song "Forbidden." In January 2022, it was announced she would make her West End debut in the musical & Juliet, playing the role of Angelique/Nurse for a run from March 29 to June 18, 2022. Later that year she made her pantomime debut as Fairy Sugarsnap in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Royal Derngate Theatre in Northampton, and she sang "How Many Sleeps 'till Christmas" for the Numberblocks. On June 19, 2024, she returned to the role of Angèlique in & Juliet at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. In February 2024, she participated in the fifth series of The Masked Singer UK as the character Air Fryer, reaching the semi-final before being unmasked in fifth place. Settle is also set to appear as Miss Coddle in the film adaptation of the musical Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu, alongside Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande-Butera, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, and the voice of Peter Dinklage as Doctor Dillamond.