Alana Arenas on Her Broadway Debut in Purpose, Making an Entrance and Bunny Dreams

Age: "My age? To quote Claudine in the play…” [covers her mouth and whispers something we can’t quite catch, then laughs.]

Current Role: Alana Arenas is making her Broadway debut as Morgan Jasper, the combustible wife of disgraced congressman Solomon “Junior” Jasper, in the Phylicia Rashad-helmed transfer of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose. Arenas originated the role in the play’s 2024 Steppenwolf world premiere before bringing it to Broadway.

Hometown: Arenas claims dual state citizenship. “I was born and raised in Miami, Florida, very proudly so. But I would say artistically I am a Chicagoan. I've lived there longer than I lived in Miami. You can't take your home away from your heart, so I am a born-and-bred Miamian, but as an adult I’m a Chicagoan.”

Credits: Arenas joined Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2007, originating Pecola Breedlove in The Bluest Eye, which later played at the New Victory Theater off-Broadway. Her Steppenwolf roster also includes Marie Antoinette, Head of Passes, Belleville and Tribes. Beyond Steppenwolf, she has appeared at the American Theater Company, Lookingglass, Berkeley Rep, Kansas City Rep and others. On screen, she can be seen in OWN’s David Makes Man, the indie film Canal Street and more.

It All Started with a Bunny Bribe
A promised bunny, not Broadway, first lured Arenas to audition for Miami’s New World School of the Arts, alma mater of her friend and future Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney. A persuasive middle school English teacher floated the idea, and her mom sweetened the deal with talk of a pet. “My middle school teacher said to my mother, ‘You should have her audition for this school!’ At the time, no ma'am, I was not interested at all, but I did want a bunny rabbit. So I was like, ‘OK, if I audition for this, can I get one? My mother, who was very clever, said, ‘We'll see.’ I got into the school. I didn't get a bunny rabbit.” Years later and fresh off her Broadway bow, Arenas is still bunny‑less, so she is raising the stakes: “If anybody's out there reading this, please send a puppy.” She even has specs ready. “A little tiny one. A Maltese or a Pomeranian! We can name it Morgan.”

Sold at Stage Directions
When Branden Jacobs-Jenkins first shared an early draft of Purpose with the cast, it was just 49 pages long. But the energy was already there, and Arenas, along with a sharp Chicago ensemble, didn’t hesitate. “The man had 49 pages, and I want you to look at the list of people in the Chicago Steppenwolf production. Every single one of those people, including the incomparable Phylicia Rashad, said yes when there were only 49 pages.” For Arenas, one moment sealed the deal. “First of all, in those 49 pages, there’s a stage direction that says: "She comes down in a new wig. And sunglasses." Who’s not going to say yes to that? Whether you understand it or not, it’s like, give it to me.”

Ticket to Ride
Arenas spent years building a stage career at Steppenwolf, but she didn’t quite believe Purpose was Broadway-bound until it was officially locked in. “I think more than anything, I was like, ‘Is it gonna happen? Is it gonna happen? Is it gonna happen?’ It wasn’t until they sent my plane ticket that I was like, ‘Oh, it’s happening!’ There was so much talk, but no contract. I’m the type of person who doesn’t sink my heart in until I have black words on white paper. But when they sent me that plane ticket, I finally realized. This. Is. Happening.”

Serving and Seething
It’s not Morgan Jasper’s first moment on stage, but it’s one that lands. When she comes down the stairs, sunglasses on and radiating attitude, it feels like a moment that deserves its own anthem, at least in her head. “Maybe ‘Eye of the Tiger’?” Arenas muses. “That could be totally wrong. Honestly, it should probably be a Beyoncé track, because my wig—the hairdressers named it Beyoncé—so that feels right.” The sunglasses, she says, are more than a style choice. “I think of it as armor,” she adds. “They’re a way of not engaging, even though Morgan is being forced to.” That moment, Arenas explains, is also fueled by what just happened off stage. “I asked my husband to bring me a plate of food because I didn’t want to come downstairs. But instead of food, I get my mother-in-law. That’s part of the reason why I’m so pissed. It’s kind of delicious.” Delicious and enraging.

Love and Marriage...and In-Laws
Among the many tensions explored in Purpose, the thorny relationship between a daughter-in-law and her husband’s family is especially relatable. “I happen to have really, really wonderful in-laws,” Arenas says. “But I could see how that could go south quickly if a person doesn't have their in-laws’ approval. My husband always jokes that his parents love me more than him. I don't believe that at all.” Though she hasn’t faced that kind of conflict herself, she understands how painful it could be. “I can just imagine how terrible that would feel if you didn't think that the people you've joined families with weren't your fan. The experience in my family would be radically different.” And while that kind of tension surfaces in the play, it is only one layer of a larger story about legacy, expectation and what happens when a powerful family is forced to face itself. For Arenas, it’s just one of the many ways Purpose finds its way under the skin.

When the Drama Stops
Night after night, Purpose drops its cast into the heart of a tense and emotionally loaded family reunion, but Arenas doesn’t bring the weight of it home. “Very honestly, I think we’re eager to leave it on the stage. We go home, we put our feet up. Maybe some people scroll through their phones. Maybe some people binge-watch TV. I don’t think anybody’s carrying it around.” Still, backstage moments can spark unexpected laughs. “I think my dresser actually said to me that she wants to see a spinoff of Morgan in jail. I don’t know—what would that title be? Morgan: Taking Down the House.” But when she wants to leave the character behind, there's one thing that never fails: “Looking at photos of my kids.”