About

Andrea Rankin (she/her) is an award-winning multi-hyphenate artist and artivist from the Treaty 6 Territory of the Plains and Wood Cree in Edmonton, Alberta. She is now grateful to live and work on the Treaty 6 Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, in Toronto, Ontario. Born on the prairies, and appreciative of a prairie sunset, Andrea spent her formative years making songs and plays and exploring the rocky mountains, and feels just at home on stage as she does on a mountaintop. Andrea lives and works with an interest in learning and listening, and approaches everyone she meets with care, curiosity, enthusiasm and compassion.

Andrea loves to connect with artists and audiences alike through her work as an actor in theatre, film and television and as a singer, songwriter and pianist. Andrea’s artistic practice includes theatre, music, film, television and voiceover, and also includes her work as an arts educator in the classroom, outdoors and in her community.

As an actor, Andrea has played leading roles on stages across Canada. After growing up in the Edmonton arts scene, she worked in Calgary and Vancouver, playing roles in theatre, voiceover and film - including roles at Bard on the Beach and Theatre Calgary, and voicing several characters on Mass Effect 3. Andrea moved to Toronto in 2016 and started work at the Stratford Festival in 2017. While at Stratford, Andrea had the opportunity to express her artistry in both classical and contemporary theatre: she originated the roles of Jane Grey in Mother’s Daughter by Kate Hennig, Anne Brontë in Brontë: The World Without by Jordi Mand and Astoreth and Urania in Paradise Lost by Erin Shields. Andrea also played several of Shakespeare’s leading ingenue’s while at Stratford, including Ophelia in Hamlet and Hero in Much Ado About Nothing (eventually cancelled due to Covid-19). Andrea has played many of Shakespeare’s leading ingenues elsewhere too, including: Cordelia in King Lear (Bard on the Beach, Theatre Calgary); Desdemona in Othello (The Shakespeare Company); and Luciana in The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare By The Bow). Her work in the classical sphere also includes concerts and operas with both Alberta and Edmonton Opera.

As a singer and pianist, Andrea’s debut EP, Tides was released in 2020. Self-released, it received widespread acclaim and was featured on CBC Radio 3 and Sirius XM Radio and on CBC’s Fresh Air and Big City, Small World programs. Andrea is currently channeling her creative energy into her forthcoming full-length album, Petrichor.

Also a passionate arts educator and coach, Andrea specializes in teaching singing and acting to students of all ages. She is currently completing her Master’s of Teaching at the University of Toronto. For her forthcoming research in Trauma-Informed Practices in Drama Education, Andrea received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is deeply passionate about creating inclusive, warm and trauma-informed classrooms, rehearsal and performance spaces.

Andrea’s training includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Acting from the University of Alberta, The Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Acting at the Stratford Festival, the Professional Music Theatre Intensive at The Banff Centre for the Arts, the Southern Alberta Vocal Experience at the University of Lethbridge and years of private voice and piano study with teachers across North America, acquiring her Grade 9 RCM levels (with Distinction). She will graduate from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto in 2025, with a Master of Teaching degree.