BIO

KEO WOOLFORD is a multi-disciplinary artist, born and raised in Hawai`i. A music contract took him to Los Angeles, but he instead caught the acting bug. His self-penned, Ovation Award-nominated one-man show I Land is currently touring the United States and abroad, after having its Off-Broadway premiere in 2007.

Keo's career in theater began with his other critically acclaimed one-man show, He Hawai`i Au. He went on to play The Councilor in East-West Players' multiple Ovation Award-winning production of Pacific Overtures and originated the role of Chang in EWP's World Premiere of Heading East. His performance as Franco in In My Father's House garnered him the Virgo Award for Best Actor.

In 2002, Keo completed his starring run as the King in Rogers And Hammerstein's The King And I at the London Palladium in London's West End - the longest running revival of an R&H production in history. In New York, he has been seen in several productions including I Land (World Premier - Ma-Yi Theater Company), Karaoke Stories and The Greeks (Imua! Theater Company). His film and T.V. appearances include East Broadway, Hawaii, True Vengeance, and Happy, Texas, and the award-winning shorts, Just and Laundromat. Keo is also the co-producer of the award-winning feature documentary Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula. He graduated from the William Esper Studio in New York City and has trained with Ivana Chubbuck in her master class in Los Angeles.

Keo is also a prolific songwriter, having written many hit songs in Hawai`i and Japan. His songs are featured in the films Kids In America and Americanese. As a songwriter and vocalist, he contributed to the Island Warriors CD which was the first album from the U.S. ever to be nominated for a Grammy® Award in the Best Reggae Album category. At the end of 1998, Keo returned home to become a member of Brownskin (Hawai`i's equivalent to 'NSync). Their self-titled release was the best-selling pop album in 1999. His final concert with the group was before a sell-out crowd of 12,000 as co-headliners with Christina Aguilera. Also in 1999, he became a member of Robert Cazimero's Halau Na Kamalei. Since then he has been performing hula with the halau and The Brothers Cazimero around the U.S. and Japan.