Alixandra Cowman is a full-time actress and musician in Calgary.
She loves to incorporate both talents together, and can often be found playing characters who strum the banjo or sing. She also composes music and sound design for plays
As a self-sustaining artist, she is constantly busy, with many projects simultaneously on the go.
Cowman sat down with The Press to chat about her journey into the arts, her experience adapting to full-time performing and her most meaningful moments as an entertainer.
When did you first become interested in music and theatre?
I don’t know if there was a definitive moment for music. My parents told me that I was always making up songs when I was little. We were pretty poor, and I had a song for when we were out of money. I had a song that I would sing when I was by myself. It’s just always been a part of me. And then once I started going to Rosebud School of the Arts, where I took acting, we went to so many shows in Calgary — it’s then that I fell in love with plays and theatre.
Is Rosebud School of the Arts in Calgary?
No, it’s a little theatre town, about an hour-and-a half drive from Calgary. They have a professional theatre company that puts on shows, and they also have a post-secondary school. It’s a four-year program, and in your third and fourth year you do more apprentice style training — you can be cast in professional shows and act alongside your teachers.
Was it nerve-racking acting alongside your teachers?
Oh my gosh, yes. The very first show that I did with my teachers, I was acting with the head of the acting program – basically my boss at school — and the head of the music program, who I really looked up to. I was terrified, shaking-in-my-boots paralyzed. My director sat me down at one point and was like “You just gotta get over it.”
Do you feel like you’ve gotten over it?
I think so, yeah. Part of that is just getting older and getting more experience. The key for me has been to take the compliments when I get them and hold them close, instead of all the negative thoughts that my brain was producing. Which is a practice, it doesn’t come naturally. Sometimes the inner thoughts win, but we do our best.
How has making a living as a full-time actor and musician been for you?
It has its ups and downs. I feel really lucky to be able to do this as my job, and to be able to do it in a city that I love. But you can work really, really hard as an artist, and have the best season of your career here, and still only make $40,000 a year. So that’s the trade-off.
There are things about my life and my future that I’m constantly reevaluating. Do I love theater as much as I did five years ago? Is the spark still there? Is it worth putting in all of this hard work to get so little in return, or should I look for something else? That’s an ongoing conversation I’m having in my head. And the answer changes from month to month. But for right now, I feel like this is exactly where I’m supposed to be. And if that changes, that’s ok.
In context of music and acting, when are you happiest?
Oh my gosh. Well, as an actor, I’m happiest when there’s this connection that happens between an actor and an audience, where I feel really locked in with them. And we’re vibing on the same frequency.
As a musician, I’m happiest — I mean, it’s actually so similar! There’s also a moment where I finally figure out how to make a moment work. In the context of working as a composer for theater, sometimes the turn from one scene to the next is a tough nut to crack. And we might have to go through multiple drafts of trying to make sure we’re moving the play efficiently, while also giving space it to breathe. And when we finally figure out that timing, that’s really exciting — when there’s a beautiful crossfade where it feels seamless between one sound and the next. Mwah! It’s just such a good moment.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
