Maleah Joi Moon

Maleah Joi Moon was raised in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. Her parents, Fabia Jeffries and Steve Moon, separated during her childhood but continued living near one another. She grew up surrounded by music. As a young girl, she sang in choirs and learned to play both the trumpet and the French horn.

Her passion for the stage started early. At age ten, she won the role of Dorothy in a Franklin middle school production of The Wizard of Oz. The experience cemented her ambition. She took singing and acting classes in town and worked closely with theater teacher Timothy Walton. Moon graduated from Franklin High School in 2020. Before landing her breakout role, she auditioned unsuccessfully for Broadway productions of The Lion King and Six.

Moon earned her first professional stage role in Hell's Kitchen, a musical scored by Alicia Keys with a book by Kristoffer Diaz. Directed by Michael Greif, the production cast Moon as Ali, a 17-year-old coming of age in 1990s Manhattan. The show opened Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in late 2023.

The production transferred to Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in the spring of 2024. Moon shared the stage with Shoshana Bean, Brandon Victor Dixon, and Kecia Lewis. Critical acclaim followed. In June 2024, Moon became the third-youngest performer to win the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, following Lea Salonga and Liza Minnelli. She also won a Drama Desk Award and a Theatre World Award. She later won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album as a principal vocalist on the cast recording.

Alongside her stage career, Moon expanded into film and television. In 2022, she appeared as Faye in Disney Television Discovers: Talent Showcase. She followed that credit in 2023 with the television film Mystic Christmas, portraying Brooke alongside Jessy Schram and Chandler Massey. She was later cast as Deborah Wayne in the series A Different World.

She made several high-profile public appearances throughout 2024. She performed the original song "Kaleidoscope" alongside Alicia Keys on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In May 2024, she attended the Met Gala dressed in custom Collina Strada. Later that year, The Associated Press selected her as one of its Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024.