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[0:00] Tori Bullard: Before we begin this week's episode, we would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of this land on which we work, live and record, and recognize their continuing connection to land, water, and community.

[0:14] Eliza Gunther: We pay respect to elders past, present, and emerging.

[0:18] Tori Bullard: You're listening to Stage Door Podcast.

[0:21] Eliza Gunther: The podcast celebrating theatre and creativity from on stage mishaps to career-defining moments, hosted by Thespians, myself, Tori, and co-host Eliza.

[0:31] Tori Bullard: Fortnightly, we will bring you industry professional guests, deep dives and more.

[0:37] Eliza Gunther: Welcome back everyone to Stage Door Podcast.

[0:41] Tori Bullard: Today we are joined by current cast member of Sister Act Australia, a dear friend and Sister Mary Robert themselves, Sophie Montague.

[0:49] Eliza Gunther: Please welcome to the mic, Monty.

[0:52] Sophie Montague: Hello.

[0:54] Eliza Gunther: Hi.

[0:54] Sophie Montague: Thank you so much for taking the time to come on and chat with us today on this day off.

[0:59] Tori Bullard: My pleasure.

[1:02] Eliza Gunther: We're very lucky.

[1:03] Tori Bullard: So for those that need a little context, Monty and I are actually very good friends. We went to uni together and we just finished our degrees, and now Monty is like a superstar in Sister Act Australia, and it's actually wild to see your amazing career just take off.

[1:21] Sophie Montague: Come on now.

[1:22] Tori Bullard: Thanks, mate.

[1:25] Sophie Montague: I'm having a good time.

[1:28] Eliza Gunther: I love it. I love it.

[1:30] Tori Bullard: And I mean I feel like I know a lot about you, but at the same time when I was writing these questions, I was like, do I know a lot about Monty? Um, you kind of like you come from a very creative family. But how did you first get introduced to music theater? Like, was it through your parents? It was on your own accord. How did it kind of come to be?

[1:49] Sophie Montague: Um, so my dad, well, my parents are both very musical. My mum's a preschool music teacher, my dad has a degree in music. Um, and I start off in dance, actually, strangely. And then I got my brother into dance, and he was way better at it than me. So I was like, okay, well, I'll go be better at singing. So I started singing lessons, uh, and my dad's always been a big lame's phantom, you know, mega musical fan. Um, and so it's always been around me, but um then at school I started doing musicals and acting and stuff, um, and decided to see if I could make some money in it.

[2:31] Sophie Montague: Hey, it's gone well so far.

[2:33] Eliza Gunther: It's going very well, thank goodness.

[2:35] Sophie Montague: Um, yeah, and I and school I played um all the male characters because I went to an all-girls school and um and I played The Beast in Beauty and the Beast. And and it was like a very like octave above soprano beast, um, and then Uncle Festa in my last year in the Adams family. Uh and I had a blast sprinklings of my non-binary roots. Um so um it was great fun. And then I went and studied.

[3:07] Eliza Gunther: Your Uncle Festa's amazing.

[3:12] Sophie Montague: Oh my god. I I've seen clips of your Uncle Festa, and it was it was absolutely brilliant.

[3:17] Sophie Montague: Thank you.

[3:18] Eliza Gunther: Thank you. And I guess then you went on to study. So you went you went to Brent Street first, and then you went to the con. Is that right? Did you just study in high school at Brent Street? Or uh no, no.

[3:30] Sophie Montague: So I finished I finished year 12 at my all girls school, and then um I was gonna take a gap here, and then uh through a series of strange events, I last minute sent an email with like a random video of me singing to uh Brent Street like two weeks before it started, so that for their diploma of musical theatre course, which is just a year. Um and uh they were like, Yeah, great, next Monday, show up. And I was like um, so I did that for the year and that was great. I needed some dance training, so that was very helpful.

[4:05] Sophie Montague: I knew that I needed to do more study than that. So it was a really great vehicle to get me into uni. It did its job.

[4:11] Eliza Gunther: Absolutely. I feel like the Brent Street dip of music theatre is such a great same for NIDA as well. I feel like it's such a great groundwork. Um really depending on like your own personal journey and kind of where you are, um, it great leaves a really great foundation whether it's then to go straight out into the industry or then to pursue further studies. It's a great kind of groundwork for that.

[4:34] Sophie Montague: And I mean, after finishing your Bachelor of Music Theatre only last year, which is insane. You've had your professional debut and you only graduated technically at the beginning of this year, but finished last year. What did you learn most about yourself after leaving an institution?

[4:49] Sophie Montague: That's a good question. I didn't uh I was like so ready to go out and struggle and audition for like five years. And um I'm feeling very blessed that that has not been the case. But um, I was I was like ready to move to Melbourne and uh I sort of found I was doing tapes and things like that and nothing was really happening, and that you know, that was fine. I was just I was doing that for like three months, so you know, I wasn't too hard done by it. But um but uh I was I learnt that I was actually uh now that I didn't I wasn't receiving feedback to tell me to go further, I just sort of went further on of my own accord and I found that I was doing the best I felt the best work that I'd been putting out um in the in the months after I graduated, which is so strange because you know it's when I maybe my I thought I'd have a crisis of confidence, but um yeah, and then uh and then I I came back to Sydney, I was in Brisbane, and then I came back to Sydney in January and to audition for Sister Act, and that was the first thing I was in the room for.

[5:59] Sophie Montague: And um I was so ready to move to Melbourne, uh, and then uh and then I got the call. I I went to Melbourne with all my things, ready to look for houses. Uh I had a housemate and everything, and we were like looking at housing inspections, and um, and then I got the call at the day I got to Melbourne and um and thought, well, I pay dead rent, I'll move back up to Sydney and move back in with my folks, which has worked out really well.

[6:26] Eliza Gunther: Are you still living there now with them doing the show?

[6:29] Sophie Montague: Yeah, this is this is my parents' bedroom.

[6:31] Eliza Gunther: Oh, I love that yeah, it had the best lighting.

[6:36] Sophie Montague: So that's cool. I mean, and now I guess now you're in Sister Act and starting off that journey. I mean, talking about that kind of auditioning and thinking that you were gonna audition for a million things and it not being that way. What was the audition process like for Sister Act? Like what did you have to do? How many hoops did you have to go through? Tell us all the details.

[6:56] Sophie Montague: Um so I uh I rocked up uh very under prepared uh because I thought this is my first audition, it's not gonna go anywhere, I'll just go in and learn something. So I, you know, I had I I'd I'd I'd sung it through, but um I in classic me fashion was not expecting anything to come of it. So I went in, they asked me to sing the last 16 bars, give or take of Life I Never Led, which is Sister Mary Robert song, and it's like the big bit, and they were like, Great, we'll take it from the scene before. And I was like, You mean I was supposed to learn the scene before Ski. So eventually they let I like absolutely fumbled my way through it, and they eventually let me hold the paper, which I was very grateful for.

[7:46] Sophie Montague: Um and uh I did again, and you know, I I was really like all the panel were really like positive and and constructive, which I was really enjoying. Uh, and the reader was great, and I was like, great, this is fun. What a fun time. Let's just offers, you know. And I was in there for like 20 minutes, and then uh yeah, so that was cool. And I also enjoyed before I went in, I was sitting in the waiting room just out outside the door with this girl called Kara, who I'm now in the cast with. She was like going, Is this your first audition? I've been like, I'm so excited for you. She was so lovely and supportive, and now we're in the cast together, which is so nice.

[8:27] Sophie Montague: Um that was a really lovely experience. But then yeah, I left, I left the audition room thinking that went pretty well. Uh and then they asked me to do a callback, and I uh they were like, uh we have two hours until the dance the movement call, and I was sitting there going, I didn't bring spare clothes. Um and so I I was in like Doc Martin's and like a nice straight leg black pant, not movement call appropriate. So I jumped in an Uber and rushed home and got some clothes, and then my mum drove me back and dropped me off. And I went and did the musical, and it was like fun, like dorky nun dancing, and I just had a blast.

[9:12] Sophie Montague: Uh and then and then uh there was like a day between the second and the third rounds, and I was like sitting by the phone all day, and then I got a call from my agent saying, Great, you're in again tomorrow, and I was like, cool, I'll learn the material this time. So I went over everything, and then I went in, and then we had like another half an hour sort of uh it could have been honestly it could have been longer or shorter, it was kind of a blur, but um it felt like a long time. And uh we worked on that, and I was they were you know I was getting very positive feedback, so I was like, this is going really well.

[9:49] Sophie Montague: Um and then they asked me to come back again to film the the the dance to send to the UK people because that the UK people were coming here to direct it because it's a UK production. So uh and that was it. That the rest is history. Two weeks to the day. Got the call. I was in our good friend Emma Wilby's house in Melbourne, and um my agent called me and told me I booked it, which is really crazy.

[10:16] Eliza Gunther: God, she would have been sobbing.

[10:17] Sophie Montague: I was I was on the floor, and uh Emma, because I it was like 8:30 in the morning.

[10:24] Eliza Gunther: Oh god, that's an early call.

[10:26] Sophie Montague: Because I was I I had like missed a call from my agent the night before because I was on I caught the train down to Melbourne because it was Taylor Swift weekend and prices were through the roof. So I caught the train, which took me a really long time, and so my agent called me while I was on the train and I had the reception and he left me a message saying, Hope you're well, call me when you can. And I was like, did I book a show? Or are you just like confirming my address? So I was like bit like jittery all night.

[10:57] Sophie Montague: And um, and then I got a call at like at 8:30 in the morning. Uh, and he told me I booked it. I was like hyperventiling again. Then Eva sort of peeked her head through the door, and I was like, Well, I was still on the phone. It was such a beautiful moment. She was so excited for me.

[11:16] Eliza Gunther: Oh, that's so gorgeous.

[11:18] Sophie Montague: I love that.

[11:20] Eliza Gunther: That's amazing. And and what a first what a first like professional debut as well. The cast is absolute absolutely phenomenal. And you get to work beside them every single day with the likes of Casey Donovan and Rhonda Birchmore. Were you like a bit intimidated going in to your first rehearsal with them? And like, how was it working alongside them?

[11:41] Sophie Montague: Leading up, I was absolutely terrified. And I kept thinking, what if everything they told me at uni was a lie? What if I get in there and I had no idea what I'm doing? Which is so irrational. But um, I also had the worst cold, like the day before rehearsals, and I was like, oh no, I'm gonna be able to sing, they're gonna fire me. Um, and then but uh actually everything was fine. I went in, everyone was so lovely and ridiculously talented.

[12:17] Sophie Montague: And especially our three beautiful leading ladies, Ronda, Casey, and Genevieve. They're all so grounded and um and generous. I've been I'm feeling very lucky, especially because it's a uh they're such titles. I, you know, being one of the named characters, I haven't had to do much, I haven't had the pressure of doing a lot of publicity because it's been all on them and they're so used to it, they've done such a fabulous job. So um uh yeah, they're all absolutely fantastic.

[12:51] Sophie Montague: And I have yeah, I was very intimidated, but I was set at ease very quickly, which um I was very grateful for, and the whole team was fantastic.

[12:59] Sophie Montague: Yeah, they take the pressure off you a little bit, which is good, because then you're like, you know, you've got a massive role and you're doing a lot within the show itself. So yeah, it's nice.

[13:09] Sophie Montague: It's nice because uh, you know, she's just not she's not singing every song, but she gets a good couple of fabulous moments. It's really nice.

[13:20] Eliza Gunther: We love roles like that.

[13:21] Sophie Montague: Come on, yeah. Uh and kind of like on the rehearsal process, was the rehearsal process everything you were kind of expecting for a first professional show? Or is there anything like you'd wish you'd known beforehand?

[13:36] Sophie Montague: I went in and I sat down in front of some sheet music, and I went, oh wait, I have literally trained for this for four years. I know how to do this. Um I sat there and you know, it was we were learning sheet music, and I had a cold, so I couldn't sing, so I was like trying to like memorize everything and embody it all, and I looked a bit silly, but um for the first week it was it was so nice and chill. We worked with the MD Daniel Griffin, who's fantastic, and he sort of uh took us through all of the like big ensemble numbers, and then the UK creatives arrived a couple of days in. So it was it was really nice to ease in.

[14:16] Sophie Montague: It was funny because it was very similar to the way we rehearse at uni, but it's not you're not under pressure because everyone just sort of does it. You're not told to learn your lines, everyone's a professional, so they just do. It was it was such an interesting um such an interesting shift in my head because obviously I was doing those things and um but there was no yeah, there was no one telling me to do those things, and I like went in with offers and I went in with character research and all of this, but there's no one telling you to do that. So it's just like I don't know, it's just a just a small shift.

[14:54] Sophie Montague: But um I have to say it's fairly close to what I expected from a rehearsal room. I I was very set at ease by the fact that I actually uh you know at uni we were lucky enough to work with professional directors who would direct a room in a similar way, you know, a slightly more in a teacher fashion, but you know, similarly to the way that you know a director in a professional room would. So I was very set at ease by the fact that I I knew how to do the things.

[15:28] Sophie Montague: Which is so refreshing, like especially after you train so long at a university, and then you're like, uh am I capable of this, and then you go and you're like, oh, oh no, actually I am capable of this, right? And made the right life choices.

[15:41] Eliza Gunther: Okay.

[15:41] Sophie Montague: Yeah, it was also there's an element of um the fact that I I felt like I hadn't earned my stripes, I hadn't I hadn't worked my way up from the ensemble, I hadn't auditioned for years on end. I'd literally done one audition. So uh there was an element of, oh my god, am I taking somebody's spot here? But I also I kept having to remind myself that it actually has nothing to do with how many auditions you've done or anything like that. It is right place, right time. Obviously, prepare, but right the right show came along when I was auditioning for it, and that just is how it went down.

[16:20] Eliza Gunther: Yeah.

[16:21] Eliza Gunther: Absolutely.

[16:22] Sophie Montague: It's that thing of I was literally talking to Elizabeth about this today. What's meant for you will come to you. And it sounds so incredibly cheesy and like makes me want to throw up a little bit. But it is true, and we have all experienced that. But it's so crazy. I feel like it sounds ridiculous, and I am throwing shade. But it sounds kind of like amazing that people just learn their lines, and they just do it because that is your job.

[16:50] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, yeah.

[16:55] Sophie Montague: Yeah, it's definitely um, it's funny when you're getting paid to do things.

[17:02] Eliza Gunther: Definitely, you definitely is a little more of a spurt.

[17:09] Sophie Montague: You know what? That's so true. You're like, I'm being paid for this, so we are going to do the character research, the offers, the everything. The whole night. I was also I was still in that sort of. I was still in that sort of I better impress them now because maybe they'll hire me again. But I think you know, there's 10 months of this contract. Yeah, you're like, it's fine. It's fine. Chill out, it's gonna be alright.

[17:36] Eliza Gunther: Oh, that's too good. Well, we're actually gonna do a little bit of a game now.

[17:42] Sophie Montague: So I'm okay, so I've come up with a new game, but it's I don't know if it's much of a game, but we're gonna give it a go. Um so it's gonna be theatre icks, ick or no ick. Do you get an ick from this or don't you get an ick from this? Um okay, so the first one I feel like pretty universally known. Audience members falling asleep. Is this an ick or a no ick for you?

[18:04] Sophie Montague: See, I struggle with it a little bit because I think it's a bit rude. I I say that, but sometimes I understand. Sometimes it's a word-heavy show. But Sister Act is a bop. We're detonated, we're wearing silly little costumes, we're dream sequences, we're not changing any lives, but we're having a good time. And literally last night, there was someone in like the fourth row, hoodie on, sunny's on, like this. And I was like, you're in like a premium house seat. You paid a pretty buck for that seat. Come on now. Also, how do you sleep through? Like, how do you sleep through people melting in your face? We were like, I think especially because I I up until the end of act one, I don't really get to look at the audience much.

But in Take Me to Heaven, which is the end of act one, we're all in a line at the front of the stage, absolutely like screaming and clapping and like you know, three part harmony wall of sound. And this woman is like I I was I I understand if you've got like a medical condition, something like that. But as a rule, ick.

[19:28] Sophie Montague: It's an ick, yeah.

[19:29] Eliza Gunther: Leave the theater.

[19:31] Sophie Montague: Starting off strong.

[19:32] Eliza Gunther: Yeah.

[19:33] Sophie Montague: Absolutely. Wearing wigs, ick or no ick.

[19:37] Sophie Montague: See, interestingly, I have never had to wear a wig until this show. And I was told early on that I was gonna use my natural curls, which I thought would look hilarious because I have a fringe. And then I I had a wig fitting and they had a wig for me, and I was like, oh okay, great. Uh I don't necessarily love doing wig prep because I really like my hair. But um it is really nice, especially as uh a genderqueer performer, to put on literally someone else's head and go, okay, great, I'm a little lady in a convent now, and then I get to take it off at the end of the night. And that is gender, yeah.

[20:20] Sophie Montague: So that was really nice, and I thought I'd struggle with it a little bit, but um one of our mic techs, Spencer, they uh they sort of said to me, think of it as drag, it's just drag, and that has really helped as well. So um, so I say wigs, wig me up, baby.

[20:40] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, yeah.

[20:43] Sophie Montague: I was literally when I saw the promo, I was like, where's Monty? Okay, this is there I am. Hi, and then Rodney, my fiance was like, Where's where's Monty? I can't spot Monty anywhere, and I was like, the wig? The wig, I look really different, and people don't know who I am at stage doors, which is a blessing and a curse. But um, people go, that show was so great, well done. Who did you play? And I'll go, Sister Mary Robert, and I'll go the one with the song, and I'll go, yeah. Which is really sweet and endearing.

[21:20] Eliza Gunther: Um it's very funny.

[21:24] Sophie Montague: I love that. Okay. Uh next one is celebrity casting.

[21:31] Sophie Montague: Depends on the celebrity casting. If they can do it, absolutely. Get those bums in those seats. 100%. I would say uh, especially in our case, you know, Genevieve Lemon is a class actor, known in capacities of phenomenal acting. So she's doing phenomenal work as Mother Superior. Rhonda Birchmore is absolutely hysterical as Mary Lazarus. Yeah, she's so funny. And um, and you know, Casey Donovan. What a voice. Oh, what a voice, what a presence. So um in this case, I say yay, but in some cases, I go, I think in in any case, cast someone who can do it well. And if that's a celebrity, yeah, clicks yay, well done. But if not, cast someone who can do it.

[22:25] Sophie Montague: I feel like Casey Donovan was the first like Australian celebrity casting that changed my mind about being okay with celebrity casting if they cast it correctly. When I saw her in Nine to Five, I was like, oh, oh yeah, my god. I was like, okay, well, now, this this acceptable can do the role, can sing the role, is the right fit for the role. Happens to also be a celebrity, yes. Amazing. It's like as long as they can do the role and they're a good fit for the role, yeah. Slay. Love it.

[23:00] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

[23:03] Sophie Montague: The next one is people singing along to the entire show.

[23:09] Sophie Montague: Entire show? It has qualms. See, I th in my opinion, that's why mega mixes at the end of shows exist. So that people can sing along. Like Mamma Mia. Same with Moulin Rouge. The mega mix at the end absolutely slaps. And there's songs that everyone knows. I think that sing along to the megamix. Nope, no one paid to hear you sing.

[23:39] Eliza Gunther: I do agree.

[23:41] Sophie Montague: Now actually, this is one that uh the next one, the lucky last one. It's something that I think every performer thinks differently on. So what is your is it an ick or a no ick to stage dooring?

[23:53] Sophie Montague: Okay, I uh was really scared of stage door because I I you know, I don't uh there's people I don't know, and that's scary. But um I found it fine, especially because people don't usually know who I am. I also completely understand people who don't want to stage door. I totally understand it, and I think there should be more respect for it. But on the other hand, especially in Australia, it doesn't tend to be as intense. The fan culture isn't as intense here as it is on Broadway and in the West End and on the same token, it's really nice to meet people and see people who enjoyed the show.

[24:33] Eliza Gunther: Yeah.

[24:33] Sophie Montague: I really enjoyed it. Um you know, the because I don't people don't know who I am, and people will ask me to sign their programs and they'll show me the page that doesn't have my face on it. And I'll have to go down. I'm just back here. I'm just here. Um so I you know it's it's I I quite enjoy it personally. Stage door is the best. There's such good stories.

[25:00] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, absolutely.

[25:02] Sophie Montague: Absolutely. I think if you do it respectfully and the intent of kindness and that it's not a guaranteed, nor do the performers owe you anything, it's really nice and can be a really lovely experience. Which we don't we don't have too much of the toxic stage dooring experience in Australia as much as in the US. It is horrifically intense and terrifying when you're doing stage dooring for the first time as like a fresh 18-year-old, um, and you don't realize that it's like a battle royale to get to the the front to get someone's signature. It's insane.

[25:38] Sophie Montague: So like be kind and do it with respect and know that these performers are people too and have lives, and they also wish to probably go and sleep. So and steam those voices.

[25:52] Eliza Gunther: Yes.

[25:52] Sophie Montague: Well, thank you so much for playing our little game Theatre Ix with us. I've enjoyed myself thoroughly.

[26:00] Tori Bullard: Five star rating.

[26:02] Eliza Gunther: I mean, you were recently on Sunrise. What was it like being on the telly and singing that song, that excerpt of that song that early in the morning?

[26:15] Sophie Montague: Um, oh, it was it was difficult. Yeah, it's a big song Raise Your Voice is a big song for Casey, Dolores, and for Mary Rob, and for everyone singing the harmonies. It's a big song, and uh we were called at 6:45. So I thought and I was also on Wednesday, I was like, oh my god, I can feel myself getting sick. I'm getting sick. This is bad. So I took like some some like anti-inflammatories the night before, hoping that would um help just get me through the next day, and uh I got up at four because I was like, I need a couple hours. I got up at four after the two show Wednesday, and I'm living with my family of five, so I was like, I can't warm up here. So I went and got in the car and drove to Maca's and got myself a coffee and warmed up in the drive in like the car park at Maccas and um and glamorous.

[27:12] Eliza Gunther: So I did that.

[27:13] Sophie Montague: It's really really glamorous.

[27:14] Eliza Gunther: Yeah.

[27:15] Sophie Montague: Uh and then um, and then yeah, I had a couple of hours to to warm up a little bit, but even after I'd been awake for like three hours, because we ended up we we were on at about quarter past eight, I think. Um and you know, we had like sound checks and things, and you know, getting in costume and wings and whatnot. But I I was still like oh these notes are just like barely squeezing out of my body. But we we did it and it was fine, and I I'm yeah, it sounded good. Um, so that's good. It went well.

[27:51] Eliza Gunther: You were you were brilliant. It was so good. I was like, I screaming, I was like, yes, we finally have some Monty Promo.

[27:59] Sophie Montague: I love it.

[28:01] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, it was good. It was good fun. Need to get you one of those belt boxes.

[28:06] Sophie Montague: Oh my goodness, I need one. I threw an eye for one the other day. They look phenomenal.

[28:11] Eliza Gunther: Yes.

[28:12] Sophie Montague: Actually, that would be amazing, especially for more sunrise performances.

[28:17] Eliza Gunther: 100%. They're just gonna keep bringing you back on.

[28:20] Sophie Montague: I will be investing. I will be investing.

[28:25] Eliza Gunther: I love it. How fun. How cool. You're on the TV. That's just so pretty cool.

[28:30] Sophie Montague: Wild. It was really cool to see them in the studio because we were in and they have like different spaces like set up for different segments or whatever. And um, I my favorite thing was when they're about to go live, they would sort of like have a little chat and like a laugh into the lives so that it wouldn't just start cold. And I thought it was so funny. And I I was like, wow, they're so good at their jobs. This is so wild.

[29:00] Eliza Gunther: Oh, what a good first experience on the TV. That's so fun.

[29:03] Sophie Montague: Yeah, I I'd actually I'd done we did a couple of like random are you okay day things at Brent Street for on Sunrise, but they were all uh like live crosses, so we did them from elsewhere. So it was cool to be in studio, especially singing m myself.

[29:21] Eliza Gunther: That's nice. It was a fabulous performance, so good job, I think.

[29:28] Sophie Montague: Thank you, thank you so much. And um unfortunately, this brings us to the lucky last question of today, um, aside from our bedtime story. But is there any advice you wish you'd told your younger self in their pursuit of music theatre?

[29:45] Sophie Montague: Oh, there's so many things. There's so many things that you hear other people say and you go, oh, wishful thinking. Um I I think just uh knowing that if you make the offer and it goes down badly, that's okay. Now they know that you're down to make offers, and that's a plus. So make the offer. I also think uh reminding myself actually I I take well, obviously that, but also I I wish I could tell my younger self that there are roles for curvy queers, uh, and it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter as long as you are uh your intentions are correct, as long as you could do the role, because I thought that I would never make it in this industry when I was just starting out. I thought I would spend 10 years, you know, ensemble covering older roles, because that's what I was told.

I'd be doing, you know, Madame Tanadier every fourth Tuesday or whatever. And uh it's nice to know that there are young roles. Just I I just never thought I would play a young role. And when I got to uni, I was sort of reminded of the fact that I because I got to uni when I was like 18, 19, and uh I thought that I'd just be playing older roles for the rest of my life. Um because that's what especially at uni because obviously you're in a group of you know, people in their early 20s, someone's gotta play the old role, and and that is so often given to the curvy R femmes, uh, and and it's it's so silly because that's not what the world is like because in the real world young people play young people, and it's just nice to to get in a room and play a young person and have a win, especially as a curvy, queer young person. It's nice to have a space, even playing a young girl, um it's just exciting. It's exciting that I've been given given an opportunity to do the thing.

[32:03] Eliza Gunther: I that is so bang on, like hearing you say that means so much, I feel like to so many people because it is so true, like, and to be seeing you step into the industry in this role and it just be about the work you do, not about all these other things, is so refreshing, and to see it on the main stage as well, to be like, oh yeah, you can like there is a place for you, and you can do this, and it's not you're not gonna be playing the understudy like old person role, and that I feel like that is so true because I felt like in this industry I'd be auditioning for all like the old women, and I haven't, and I'm like, guys, but that's my niche. I'm like so good at it. Where's the niche? And you're like, yeah, but good at it, where where is this?

And then and then you go, oh, actually, no, you're auditioning for all these other things and putting yourself in younger roles, and I think, yeah, sometimes you can get in that trap of thinking that you're gonna play old ladies even in your 20s in the industry, and it's so refreshing to see you.

[33:04] Sophie Montague: I mean that yeah, that opinion shifted throughout uni and and because especially uh at the beginning at Brent Street, that was like four years ago, and even in those four years, things have changed a lot in terms of representation. Um, and I was uh sort of I was in the know that I would be the the kick-ass sidekick with the one song that you know you know the they don't really have an arc, but they get like a fun, quirky sort of belty song, and I was like, cool, I'm happy with that, I'll find work. But um yeah it's lovely to have a whole arc and I really enjoy I really love this role and I've really enjoyed it so far. I hope I continue to enjoy it because it's um it's such a it's a lovely arc and it's lovely to explore that sort of shyness because I don't think I'm a particularly shy person. I don't know, some people might beg to differ, but I don't feel very shy.

[34:11] Eliza Gunther: So it was it's really I really enjoy it. It's great fun.

[34:16] Tori Bullard: Well, bravo, because I'm so proud of you. Like seeing you do this is so just makes my soul so happy, and I'm so so proud of you, and you you know you deserve all of the accolades coming your way, because watch out world, Monty's coming.

[34:33] Sophie Montague: Thanks, mate. Thank you. I appreciate that. Well, thank you so much again for taking the time to to come on and have such candid chat with us.

[34:42] Eliza Gunther: Oh, so exciting to see a queer, young, gender-queer, body diverse individual in a lead role in a main stage show. It's really refreshing, and it's also gives people like myself and I'm sure other people listening confidence to go out and do the thing that there are roles out there that exist. But before we go, we have a segment on our show called Bedtime Stories, which is the show Misthap, Costume, Malfunction, whatever you so wish. Do you have a bedtime story to share with us?

[35:13] Sophie Montague: Um, I do. So there's a bit in the show where uh I don't want to spoil anything, but I I'm inside a I'm inside a bed, and I Dolores is having like a dream sequence, and she's like getting back out there into the world of glitter and glamour, and she's leaving the convent behind her, but you know, they're sort of whispering in the back of her head that things haven't changed as much as she thought they had. And so uh I'm like hiding in a bed, and I sort of pop out of bed, and then we always sing a bit of Latin, then we pop back down, and I run around, I climb out and I run around and come back on stage to the next bit. It's a pretty short turnaround, and I was in the bed, popped up, everything was fine, popped back down, and then I my the back of my dress got caught in the top of the bed.

So I was like hanging in the bed, being like, oh my god, what do I do? And the bed's supposed to roll backwards. So I was like, oh my god, every cue is gonna be late now because of this. Oh my god. So I was like, hang there, like I just don't know what to do. So eventually I like yanked it out and ran around and everything was fine. But for that moment, I was like, the whole show is gonna crumble.

[36:28] Eliza Gunther: That's so scary though, because if that set's gonna go flying off and you're like on it, you're like, oh shit.

[36:33] Sophie Montague: I had plenty of stage managers and and you know, uh mechanists around me, so I knew that nothing bad was gonna happen, but I was I was like, this is gonna be late, and then this is gonna be late, and then this was gonna be late. I was like catastrophizing in those 15 seconds so hard.

[36:50] Eliza Gunther: You'd end up without a costume. Like you just ripped up.

[36:52] Sophie Montague: Just rip the whole thing off, the bed's broken, the whole show is ruined.

[36:59] Eliza Gunther: It wouldn't be very nannery of you.

[37:01] Sophie Montague: I know.

[37:03] Eliza Gunther: Not in the carpet.

[37:05] Sophie Montague: Oh my god.

[37:06] Eliza Gunther: Oh my god. Oh, that's amazing.

[37:10] Tori Bullard: Well, thank you so much. That is an amazing bedtime story. This has been such a wonderful, refreshing chat, and so good to chat to you about things that you know sometimes you can't normally talk about. But I I feel like we've really covered a lot of things that a lot of people would want to know today. So it's beautiful to have you on and to see your success and chook us for the rest of the season.

[37:31] Sophie Montague: Oh my goodness. Thank you so much. I can't wait to come to Melbourne and see you.

[37:36] Eliza Gunther: Oh actually, before we go, plug yourself. Tell us when is the show on and what's your Instagram?

[37:42] Sophie Montague: My Instagram is uh sof underscore Monty. S O P H underscore M O N T Y. Uh and uh we are in Sydney at the Capitol Theatre until November. And then we go to Melbourne at the Regent. Uh, and then Brisbane and and everywhere else.

[38:04] Eliza Gunther: Beyond.

[38:05] Sophie Montague: Oh, I am gonna be cheering so loudly in Melbourne.

[38:09] Eliza Gunther: Oh, Ronnie and I will be dancing in our seat.

[38:12] Sophie Montague: I'm so excited. Well, enjoy the rest of your day. I hope everyone enjoyed this episode. But until next time, stay happy, healthy, and safe, and we'll see you then.

[38:22] Eliza Gunther: Bye bye.