Born on January 11, 1958, Alyson Reed grew up in Anaheim, California, where she began acting in high school. She was a varsity song leader for two years, and became the ASB President as a senior in Anaheim High School. She graduated in 1976. She later played Nancy in a school production of Oliver! and also performed as Alice in Alice in Wonderland at the Disney Theme Park.
In 1978, Reed made her Broadway debut with the play Dancin'. She then moved on to other stage projects such as Dance a Little Closer, Cabaret, A Grand Night for Singing, and Marilyn: An American Fable. For her work on Cabaret, she was nominated for a Tony Award in the category Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She was also nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for Marilyn: An American Fable. Later on, she got a role in the made-for-TV movie Norma Jean & Marilyn.
Moving on to film, Reed landed her most notable role as Cassie in Richard Attenborough's adaptation of A Chorus Line. She also appeared alongside John Ritter in Skin Deep. Her other television credits include Matlock, L.A. Law, and Murder, She Wrote. She later appeared in Frasier , Law & Order, Without a Trace, ER , Judging Amy, Chicago Hope, The X Files, CSI : Crime Scene Investigation, Nip/Tuck , Crossing Jordan, Numb3rs, Boston Legal, and NYPD Blue.
In 2006, Reed landed the role in the widely successful Disney made-for-TV movie, High School Musical. She reprised her role in the two sequels of the franchise, High School Musican 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which was released in theaters in 2008. Other appearances of Reed include those in Journeyman and Eli Stone, in addition to voicing a character in Higglytown Heroes. Trained as a ballerina, Reed is known for being a Bette Midler lookalike and became a double for Bo Derek in a ballet sequence of 10.