Jazz / Soul / R&B / Top 40 / Disco
Get everyone on the dance floor with Alana Bridgewater!
Alana is available as a soloist for corporate events and wedding ceremonies or with musicians ranging from a jazz duo to a full wedding dance band: Jazz, rock, R&B, funk, reggae, Top 40, swing, soul, Latin and pop -- Alana Bridgewater does it all! Having been the “Killer Queen” in the hit musical “We Will Rock You”. Alana also can sing songs from the show solo to track or with a live band, a great option for corporate events. Her big voice and charming personality will bring your event to the next level.
Alana Bridgewater has an impressive repertoire that is perfectly suited for private events. The artists she pays tribute to include Chaka Kahn, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle, Marvin Gaye, and Queen to only name a few.
We Will Rock You - KILLER QUEEN - Toronto
Gospel Christmas Project - Young Centre for The Performing Arts 2008
Broadway and Beyond with Colm Wilkinson - Town Hall NYC 2008
Womens Blues Revue - Massey Hall 2008
Smokey Joe’s Café at Stage West Mississauga and Calgary
In A Jam - CBC Television
Little Shop of Horrors - St Lawrence Stage Company, Red Barn Theatre
Womens Blues Revue - Massey Hall 2008
Toronto Best Little Whorehouse in Texas - Stage West
Back To Bacharach and David -Theatre In Port
"Bridgewater is maturing rapidly as a soloist. Wow, what a voice! Her powerful range touched gentle sultry moods while her body shook almost in a gentle jingle while her instrument filled the theatre with that feeling of soothing authority. The audience felt her appearance was too brief as she delivered a tribute to Roberta Flack’s Feel Like Making Love; then journeyed on a The Slow Boat To China before George Benson’s Masquerade closed her capsule."
Trinidad Guardian
"Make no mistake about
it, Menopause Out Loud!, the comedy cabaret show
that is filling the Capitol Event Theatre in
Toronto, is by women, about women, for women. But
men don’t have to be sheepish about attending and
laughing out loud, along with their wives,
partners, or girlfriends.
This is a broad comedy in both senses of the word –
it’s all about what happens to women when “the
change” arrives, and the book and lyrics, by
Jeannie Linders, are played for laughs, laughs,
laughs, with a lot of mugging for an audience that
is 90% women who are and laughing and cheering from
start to finish.
The lyrics, all sung loudly, are written to music
that menopausal women will find familiar – hits
from the ‘50s, ‘60s and from the disco era. The
middle-age cast – who says there are no good roles
for older women? – is in fine voice from start to
finish, except for a couple of Beach Boys songs
that lack the magical harmonies of the originals.
Alana Bridgewater is particularly powerful as Power
Women but Jayne Lewis (Soap Star), Nicole Robert
(Earth Mother), and Rose Ryan (Prairie Housewife)
more than hold their own."
Canadian Actor
Online
Twenty Questions
with...
When we say that Alana Bridgewater is ‘guaranteed
to blow your mind…anytime’ as Killer Queen in the
hit musical We Will Rock You, man, we ain’t
kidding. With vocal credit’s including the Canadian
Children’s Opera Chorus, Toronto Mendelssohn Youth
Choir, she has even lent her voice for the 2008
Olympic bid. The Markham born, North York raised
singer/songwriter has accomplished more to date as
a vocalist than most actors have in a career.
You’d never suspect We Will Rock You is her first
large scale commercial offering by the way she
commandeers the stage. And when the casting call
went out for the sinister, self absorbed Killer
Queen, Alana Bridgewater just couldn’t resist.
And nor could TorontoStage.com resist when
presented with an opportunity to chat up the
operatic chanteuse about all things Alana
Bridgewater in online theatre’s most exposing
feature, Twenty Questions With…
What was your
nickname in high school?
It was ‘Bridgewater.’ It was an organic thing as
people always thought I had a cool last name. I
still have one friend from Grade 1 and another from
high school and they both still call me
‘Bridgewater.’
What posters did you have on
your bedroom wall growing
up?
McKenzie Astin. He was relatively way too short for
me but that was o.k.
Also River Phoenix, Wham!, and Michael Jackson.
Who were your childhood
heroes?
Jem and the Holograms. No, I didn’t have time as a
kid to watch television. It was all about climbing
trees and stuff like that.
Did you play sports as a
kid?
I played basketball, volleyball, and soccer. I
don’t play anything today. A lot of it has to do
with time but I’m terribly out of shape now. Being
fit is one of those things you want to get back to
but I just haven’t really focused enough energy on
doing that.
Were your parents
strict?
My mother was strict on some things but not
everything. She’d say ‘o.k., go out and have a good
time.’ She’d never give us a time to come back. But
we knew if we came strolling home at 1:00 am that
we blew it.
What was your
first concert?
I saw Martha and the Muffins with Parachute Club at
Canada’s Wonderland. My sister danced for Martha
and the Muffins so I was VIP and got their
autograph.
You can tell I’m Canadian, huh?
What was the
first job you've ever had?
Delivering the North York Mirror when I was eleven.
You didn’t have to collect money for the paper so I
was really lazy so I would stand at the corner and
hand them out.
Have you ever
been fired from a job?
The first time I was fired was at Baskin Robbins. I
had a wedding to go to and one of the managers said
she would work for me on that Saturday. Then I got
a call from the manager saying ‘that can’t happen,
and you’re fired.’ But I was 13 so it didn’t
matter. And then the next time was at Sears. The
sweet justice in that was that I ended up singing
in commercials for Sears.
Who was the
first person you were sexually attracted
to?
Leon Jones. He was from Brampton where my cousin
lived. I would go there on the weekend and we would
all go to church together. But he’s probably about
4’11” and I’m 6 feet talk so it’s not going to
work.
What do you
remember about the first time getting
drunk?
Believe it or not it wasn’t until I was in
university. Because of my Jamaican background, we
always had a taste of wine and rum punch, it wasn’t
a novelty.
When I got to university I would try different
drinks and mixing them. I think the first time it
happened though I remember falling down the stairs.
What is the
hardest thing about being a
woman?
Child birth. I had a really terrible pregnancy. You
see people on TV and they’re smiling and glowing. I
was sick to my stomach and on IV the whole time.
When it got to the end I thought ‘oh no, this thing
has to come out.’ That was scary.
What did you
want to be growing up?
I wanted to be an advertising copywriter just like
Angela from Who’s The Boss? I thought her job was
so interesting. My mom wanted me to be a lawyer.
When did you
realize that you had grown
up?
When my baby looked up at me and called me ‘mommy.’
I was 23.
What did you
believe in at 18 that you wish that you'd believe
in now?
I believed in honest government and that people in
power were actually concerned with real issues. I
would like to believe in that, I really do. But
it’s the bureaucracy of it all that won’t let me.
What is the
best advice your parents ever gave
you?
‘Cockroach no business in a fowl fight.’ It’s a
Jamaican term meaning that a cockroach should never
try to break up two chickens fighting. At the end
of the day, the chickens are going to turn on the
cockroach and try to eat it. So it’s kind of like
‘mind your business.’
What have you
done that you will never do
again?
I wont’ be having a child again. I love the one I
have. She is absolutely satisfied being an only
child.
What is the
best lie you ever told?
Because I’m so good at lying I just don’t know. I
think what I’ll have to do is write a book and at
the end of my life I’ll release it. And then
everyone will know everything.
What is the
scariest thing that ever happened to
you?
There was a time when my daughter fell off of the
bed onto a hardwood floor. When they’re that young,
you don’t know they can roll but they do. She
started screaming and I thought ‘Oh my god! She has
brain damage, I’m a bad mother.’ I started crying.
I called my mother who was laughing at me.
If you were
the leader of our great country, what’s the first
thing you’d change?
Our deeply flawed welfare system. I think there are
people who do need the help and it should be there
in place for that. I feel that there are also
others who really drag down and take advantage of
the system. If you offer people jobs and give them
an opportunity to do well, they will. If you make
something easy, they’ll just live there.
If somebody
made a movie about your life, whom would you want
to play you?
Martin Short because no one
draws a comparison to the real me.
Honestly, I’d love for my daughter to play me.
She’s going to be tall and I expect her to have an
understanding of who I am so she’ll bring truth to
the character.