By Kristen Sawatzky 2024
Alanna McPherson
(she/they)
is a Canadian actor, vocalist, and theatre artist with Métis, French, and Scottish settler ancestry from wīnipēk, ᐑᓂᐯᐠ, also known as Winnipeg, Manitoba. Making strong impressions with her unique vocal quality and commanding stage presence, Alanna is a dynamic talent who is not to be missed.
"50 minutes of Fringe Gold"
Alanna most recently closed a sold-out extended run of House of Gold at the 2024 Winnipeg Fringe Festival. Playing Jane Gold, the arrogant embittered heiress of the family's country western legacy, Alanna and her castmates earned a ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ review in the Winnipeg Free Press courtesy of Janice Sawka.
House of Gold also garnered a nomination for the Harry S. Rintoul Award for 'Best New Manitoba Play' (Award to playwright, Thomas McLeod)
Hit The Road, Jack!
Alanna completed 208 performances on tour with Alberta Musical Theatre Company's Sterling Award Winning original musical 'Jack and The Beanstalk'. Playing 3 vibrant and energetic roles, Alanna brought this story to life for over 60 000 youths across Alberta.
2022/23 Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award Winners
About the Company
"Alberta Musical Theatre Company is a Sterling award-winning musical theatre touring company now in its 39th year of operation. Its purpose is to create and produce original musical theatre fairytale adaptations that provide meaningful and educational experiences to young audiences."
A seasoned performer, Alanna has trained at Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP), University of Winnipeg, The Village Conservatory (ViC), and MacEwan University.
Select theatre credits include Jack and The Beanstalk (Alberta Musical Theatre Company), Dreamers' Cantata (Plain Jane Theatre), Baker's Wife in Into the Woods (MacEwan University) performed to a pandemic-era audience of teddy bears only, Senator Fipp/Ensemble in Urinetown (MacEwan University), Ariel in Footloose (MTYP), Ruth in Pirates of Penzance (MTYP).
During their time at The Village Conservatory (ViC), an independent music theatre training program based in Winnipeg, MB, she created, designed, and directed her own cinematic movement piece titled Tale of The Stone - a whimsical journey of rediscovering youthful wonder through play. It premiered alongside twelve other original pieces in ViC's live screening and online presentation Inhibition Exhibition: Embracing Shadows in the spring of 2021 to great praise.
By Kristen Sawatzky 2024
Alanna is grateful to have been raised on and currently reside in Treaty 1 Territory, the ancestral lands of many Indigenous Nations including the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene, and the Homeland of the Red River Métis - from whom they proudly descend. Alanna's Métis familial ties include (but are not limited to) Delormes, Vandals, and Flamands, who all lived and raised their families nomadically in southwest Manitoba. Alanna acknowledges her mixed ancestry and privilege and seeks to contribute to meaningful reconciliation for her kin and the original caretakers of this land. She carries her grandmothers' spirits in every song she sings, blanket she crochets, and story she tells. #LandBack