MacEwan Alumni Shine at Fringe

Morgan Hanna
BFA Music Performance, 2023.
Fringing since 2024.

Born and raised in the Bahamas, Morgan Hanna initially studied guitar and music there. When she decided to extend her education and study abroad, MacEwan University’s Music program caught her attention. She landed in Edmonton in 2019 and graduated with her BFA Music in 2023.  

“The program was great. The reason I came to MacEwan was to get more experience, more opportunities, because the school back home was smaller,” she says. “MacEwan focuses a lot on jazz music, which is great because jazz is the foundation for a lot of music.” 

“I had a few really great professors who I studied with and sometimes get to play gigs with now, which is so wild to think about! But yeah, overall it was definitely a great learning experience.”

While this is Morgan’s first Fringe participating as a performer — you can catch her playing nightly Aug 16-24 with Audrey Ochoa in the Late Night Cabaret Band — local Audiences may have already seen Morgan in the neighbourhood for regular jams at the Yardbird Suite, and on Edmonton mainstages like the Citadel Theatre. When she played in the Citadel’s band for 9 to 5, she dipped into country music for the first time since it was briefly covered in her courses at MacEwan.   

“I’m glad to say that now I can play country,” she laughs. As for her career plans in the future, she muses that she while she wasn’t considering staying in Edmonton at first, the embrace of the city’s music scene has kept her happily occupied.  

“I think what’s unique about Edmonton is just the size of it. If you think about Toronto and the music scene, there’s so many more people who do the same thing that you do. But in Edmonton it’s easier to get out there and be a part of the scene, as long as people are willing to invite you in.”  

Daniel Anderson
BFA, Arts & Cultural Management (In Progress)
Fringing Since 2007

Frequent Fringers have likely spotted Daniel Anderson as the “Copper Cowboy” onsite — he’s been a regular on the buskers’ pitch since first graduating from MacEwan’s Theatre Performance program in 2006. He didn’t start out his Fringe career in Western garb, though. Initially, Daniel appeared on the site as a zombie flipping burgers.

“It was painfully terrible,” he recalls with a chuckle. “I made no money that first weekend; it destroyed my soul a little bit.” But, he quickly learned that standing still got a remarkably positive response, so he started exploring living statue characters. He remembers when Ron Pearson hosted a statue tent at Fringe, and after a successful gig at Western Days in Red Deer, Daniel found a cowboy persona to be a hit with passers-by.

He notes that Fringe allowed him to experiment with performance and grow his confidence, which led to his eventual return to MacEwan to study how to best represent himself as an Artist and entrepreneur.

“When I started getting gigs outside of Fringe, I just needed more support on business side. Like, what do I do when I deal with contracts? How do I negotiate better pay or just better working conditions? The entrepreneurial and business aspect of it was where I needed more experience.”

Naturally, this led him to MacEwan’s Arts and Cultural Management program — he started out getting a diploma in 2013, but has now returned to earn his BFA. He currently also pulls casual hours working in the Triffo Theatre box office.

“When I started performing, I wouldn’t have even thought about taking accounting, doing my own books, or even promoting myself. A lot of the program was marketing, especially in those first two years. I definitely wouldn’t have had the good handle I have on Instagram if I didn’t make those connections. Showcasing yourself in a way that makes sense for a promoter of any kind of nonprofit or festival that is looking for entertainment is helpful — you need to learn the language of the business.”

Michelle Todd
Theatre Arts, 1996
Fringing Since: The 90’s

As Fringe legends go, Michelle Todd’s Deep Fried Curried Perogies is one of those solo shows that stands out as a historical highlight — it’s been mounted on dozens of stages across the country since its Fringe debut twenty years ago.

Born in Edmonton to parents of Filipino-Chinese and Jamaican heritage, Michelle has become a treasured mainstay of the local theatre scene since graduating from MacEwan’s Theatre Arts program in 1996. Thinking back on her path to Fringe success, she notes that it was one particular exercise from Ken Brown’s acting class that directly sparked inspiration for her long-running, much-loved show.

“We had to do something called a vocal mask, which was basically your mini one-person monologue — and that monologue did lead to my solo Fringe show.”

Performing Deep Fried Curried Perogies led to other opportunities beyond performance: Michelle now works for anti-racism organizations as a facilitator for youth of African descent to develop leadership skills through performing arts. She’s also worked with the Bullying Awareness Network in collaboration with Community Initiatives Against Family Violence, and co-facilitates workshops around the impacts of historical legislation and systemic oppression on Indigenous communities.

Now, she reminisces about her cohort from Theatre Arts in the ‘90s, and notes how connected they still are; many of them are treading the boards across Canada and also right here in Edmonton — and how even their kids are growing into Fringe performers and producers, too.

(We briefly digress into wondering how many ‘Fringe babies’ are born in Edmonton nine months after the Festival closing party, then get back on track.)

She notes a number of MacEwan grads who are frequent collaborators with her at Fringe, including Cheryl Jameson and Jason Hardwick — even her headshot is by MacEwan grad Ryan Parker.

“Now Fringe is our weird mini family reunion during that ten days,” she smiles. This summer, audiences can catch Michelle (and more MacEwan alumni) in Mass Debating and The Black Widow Gun Club.

Photos from Michelle Todd in Mass Debating and The Black Widow Gun Club.