Alaina Rahaim Credit: Dave Decker / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s spring arts issue features more than a dozen artists to watch this year and beyond. Meet Alaina Rahaim.
Where it all started: Now 30, she took ballet as a child, but found her true home in an improv class. “I wanted so badly to be in that black box.”
Where it led: She got her high school degree from the esteemed Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. But after getting a B.A. in human communications from University of Central Florida—in two years—she pursued a Master’s in Counseling at Florida State University and took a job in the office of career services at the University of Tampa.
But the arts kept calling: “I was getting involved in community theater, and I made the decision at the end of 2021 to leave my position at UT and start my own private practice.” (Find her at AskAlaina.com.) Paid acting roles followed, often at Early Bird Dinner Theatre, where her flair for comedy paid off in roles like the titular doggie in “Sylvia.”
Then along came Cindy: In “Who’s Holiday” at The Off-Central, Alaina captured the sparkle and the poignancy of the post-Grinch Cindy Lou Who. “Aside from being immensely talented,” says director Alan Mohney, Jr., “Alaina is one of the most intelligent actors I have ever worked with.”
Next up, a play she wrote herself: In “Zeus Cancelled,” a short play to be presented March 7 during Powerstories’ Voices of Women Festival, she’ll play the fearsome Greek god as a talk show host. “I’’ll have a beard, and most likely a sheet.”
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This article appears in Jan. 29 – Feb. 04.
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