Amanda Jeannette Bridel (born March 26, 1994), known as AJ Bridel, is a Canadian actress and singer. She first rose to prominence as a finalist on Over the Rainbow, where she finished in third-place. Since then, Bridel originated the role of Lauren in the Canadian premiere of Kinky Boots at the Royal Alexandra Theatre and has appeared in several regional productions across Ontario. In 2022, Bridel started voicing the main character Pipp Petals in the My Little Pony series.
Early life and education Bridel was born in Calgary, but raised in Kitchener, Ontario. Bridel was first drawn to musical theatre after listening to the music for Les Misérables from a CD owned by her parents. As a teenager, Bridel was a member of the Kitchener Waterloo Musical Productions, a non-profit community theatre organization. She performed in the organization's productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Annie, Footloose, and 13.
Bridel attended Eastwood Collegiate Institute, in Kitchener. An honours student in high school, Bridel enrolled in the musical theatre program at Sheridan College but withdrew to appear on Over the Rainbow. Bridel has since completed courses through Queen's University.
Career In 2011, at the age of 18, Bridel was cast in her first professional production as Mary in The Little Years, a play by John Mighton. The play was performed at the Stratford Festival between July 13 and September 24, 2011.
In 2012, Bridel auditioned for Over the Rainbow, a Canadian reality competition based on the 2010 BBC series of the same name. The winner of the series would star in the role of Dorothy in a new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's new stage musical of The Wizard of Oz at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. Following a boot camp held by Lloyd Webber, Bridel was chosen as one of the ten contestants. During the competition, Lloyd Webber commented that "there are probably several roles that I would cast her in right away." On November 4, 2012, Bridel was eliminated in third place.
Bridel was cast as Dorothy Gale in a production of The Wizard of Oz that was produced by Drayton Entertainment in March 2015.
In 2015, Bridel was cast as Lauren in the Canadian production of Kinky Boots, which played at the Royal Alexandra Theatre between June 2015 and May 2016. Bridel appeared on Canada AM, where she performed The History of Wrong Guys, a song her character performs in the show. For her performance as Lauren, Bridel received a nomination for Outstanding Female Performance in a Musical at the 2016 Dora Awards. She also was nominated for and won a 2016 Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.
Between 2016 and 2020, Bridel appeared in four Ross Petty Christmas pantomimes. In 2016, Bridel appeared in her first Ross Petty pantomime, where she starred as Sleeping Beauty in Sleeping Beauty. She also appeared in the 2017 production as Jane in A Christmas Carol, which was also filmed and aired on Family Channel and CBC across Canada. Bridel then starred as Maid Marion in the 2019 Ross Petty production of Lil' Red Robin Hood. In 2020, she appeared in There’s No Place Like Home For The Holidays, which was performed as an online revue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2017, Bridel was named the new Anne in the Charlottetown Festival's production of Anne of Green Gables: The Musical, the longest running annual musical theatre production. Bridel reprised her role of Anne in the 2018 production.
In April 2022, Bridel began starring in the main voice role of Pipp Petals in My Little Pony, replacing Sofia Carson. She currently voices the character in the made-for-YouTube 2D animated series My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale and in the Netflix animated series My Little Pony: Make Your Mark. Bridel also reprised her voice role in the 2022 Netflix animated specials, My Little Pony: Make Your Mark and My Little Pony: Winter Wishday. She also lent her voice to the video game My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure.
In 2023, Bridel starred as Sherrie in a Canadian production of Rock of Ages that played at the Elgin Theatre between February 23 and May 20, 2023. At the 2023 Dora Awards, Bridel was nominated for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role. Later that same year, Bridel starred as Claire in the world premiere of Chris Mrs. The musical ran between December 5 and 31, 2023 at the Winter Garden Theatre.
On December 29, 2025, she released her debut single "See You Monday" under the name Amanda Jean, the first single from a forthcoming album inspired by her divorce.
Personal life In 2018, Bridel was nearly involved in the 2018 Toronto van attack, having been about 5 minutes away when it occurred.
Theatre credits Year Production Role Theatre Category 2011The Little Years Mary Studio Theatre Regional / Stratford Festival 2015The Wizard of Oz Dorothy Gale Dunfield Theatre Regional / Drayton Entertainment 2015–2016Kinky Boots Lauren Royal Alexandra Theatre Toronto / Mirvish Productions2016 Mamma Mia! Sophie Sheridan Capitol Theatre Regional Sleeping Beauty Sleeping Beauty Elgin Theatre Regional / Ross Petty Productions2017 Anne of Green Gables: The Musical Anne Shirley Regional / Charlottetown Festival A Christmas Carol Jane Elgin Theatre Regional / Ross Petty Productions 2018 Anne of Green Gables: The Musical Anne Shirley Regional / Charlottetown Festival2019 You'll Get Used To It...The War Show Woman 1, Various characters St. Jacobs Country PlayhouseRegional / Drayton Entertainment Lil' Red Robin Hood Maid Marion Winter Garden Theatre Regional / Ross Petty Productions2020Kinky Boots Lauren Hamilton Family Theatre Regional / Drayton EntertainmentThere’s No Place Like Home For The Holidays Holiday Spirit Virtual revue Regional / Ross Petty Productions2022The Last Five Years Cathy Hiatt The Geary Studio Toronto / Olive Branch TheatreMamma Mia! Sophie Sheridan St. Jacobs Country Playhouse Regional / Drayton Entertainment2023Rock of Ages Sherrie Elgin Theatre Regional / More Entertainment GroupKinky BootsLaurenHamilton Family TheatreRegional / Drayton EntertainmentChris, Mrs. Claire Chris Winter Garden Theatre Toronto: World premiere 2024RosamundPrincess RosamundJeanne Lamon HallToronto: Fringe Festival2025GreaseSandy DumbrowskiDrayton Festival Theatre / King's Wharf TheatreRegional / Drayton Entertainment2025Cinderella: The PantoButtonsSt. Jacobs Country Playhouse / Huron Country Playhouse / King's Wharf TheatreRegional / Drayton Entertainment2026PinocchioNarrator, Schoolmistress & BarmaidFour Seasons Centre for the Performing ArtsThe National Ballet of Canada2026Disney’s FrozenAnnaHamilton Family Theatre / Huron Country PlayhouseRegional / Drayton Entertainment2026Jonas and Barry in the HomeRosie VoightHildebrand Schoolhouse Theatre St. JacobsRegional / Drayton Entertainment
Filmography Television Year Title Role Notes 2012 Over the Rainbow Herself Third-place finalist 2018 A Christmas Carol Jane Television special2020 Odd Squad Sister Sally #2 2 episodes Private Eyes Tiffany Episode: "Tappa Kegga Daily" 2021 Glowbies Sixty Main role (voice) 2022 Murdoch Mysteries Susan Halliday Episode: "There's Something About Mary"Super WishPrincess SparkletwirlEpisodes 17, 24 2022–2023 My Little Pony: Make Your Mark Pipp Petals Main role (voice) 2022–2024 My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale Main role (voice)2022 My Little Pony: Make Your Mark Netflix animated special My Little Pony: Winter Wishday Netflix animated special2023 My Little Pony: Bridlewoodstock Netflix animated special Accused Female Supporter #3 Episode S1.E7: "Brenda's Story" Blue's Clues & You! Firetruck Episode S4.E9: "Firefighter Blue to the Rescue!"Fellow TravelersMadeline
Film Year Title Role Notes 2014 Shelby Chloe
Audiobooks Year Title Role Notes 2019Out of the ShadowsNarrator2021The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story 2022PragueEvery Summer After2023Meet Me At The Lake2024This Summer Will Be DifferentKnown To Be The VictimMake Me A Mixtape2025One Golden Summer
Video games YearTitleRoleNotes 2022My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay AdventurePipp Petals
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2015BroadwayWorld AwardBest Leading Actress in a Musical Kinky Boots 2016Dora AwardsOutstanding Female Performance in a MusicalToronto Theatre Critics AwardBest Supporting Actress in a Musical2023Dora AwardsOutstanding Leading Performance in a Musical Rock of Ages2023ACTRA Toronto AwardOutstanding Performance: Gender Non-Conforming or Female Voice My Little Pony: Make Your Mark
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