- [Announcer] Funding for this program was provided by... - [Narrator] Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory & Florist, dedicated to helping you celebrate your life or the life of a loved one for over 85 years.

Chattanooga Funeral Home believes that each funeral should be as unique and memorable as the life being honored.

- [Announcer] This program is also made possible by support from viewers like you.

Thank you.

- [Alison] This week on "The A List" I learn how this Broadway star got her start.

- I was walking down the hall past the auditorium.

The doors were closed except for just a little space, a tiny bit ajar.

And I heard one of the instructors, a theater teacher, coaching her class.

And I peeped in and she was in the middle of a sentence.

And it was like she knew I was there.

But she stopped and she turned around.

She caught my eye.

And she said, "Come in."

And I said, "Okay."

And I went in and I shut the door behind me.

And I never looked back.

- [Alison] Join me as I talk with Montego Glover, coming up next on "The A List".

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Montego Glover is an actress, a singer, and a voiceover artist who has built an impressive career on the stage.

She made her Broadway debut in "The Color Purple" and has since lent her talents to iconic roles in "Le Mis", "Hamilton", "Dreamgirls", and most recently, "Into the Woods".

In 2010, she received a Tony Award nomination for Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance in "Memphis".

But this triple threat got her start right here in Chattanooga.

I had the chance to meet up with Montego at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, where she was preparing to take the stage in her role as the witch in "Into the Woods".

♪ Stay with me ♪ Montego, welcome to "The A List".

- Thank you.

Thank you, it's a pleasure to be here.

- Well and we're thrilled to be catching up with you right around the corner in Nashville at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center where you are performing I think in like three hours.

So I feel nervous.

I don't know if you feel nervous.

But tell us about your role in "Into the Woods".

- Wow.

Let's see.

I play the witch in "Into the Woods".

She is one of those characters that introduces a lot of momentum, a little bit of chaos.

She participates in the action and she is a bit of a truth-teller in this play.

She puts a lot of information forward but also brings a lot of grounding to the stories that we'll get familiar with over the course of the evening.

- Well, I understand this isn't your first time in the play, that you played Little Red Riding Hood in the first time you played in the production in college.

Is that true?

- Yes.

Yes.

In undergrad we did, as you do, a college production of "Into the Woods".

- At Florida State, right?

- At Florida State University.

And I was cast as Little Red.

So off I went.

It was so much fun.

I remember that experience so clearly because it was my first time working on Sondheim.

It was my first time playing that role or any role in "Into the Woods".

And it was a tremendous education.

You know, Sondheim's writing is so different from anything else around it or above it or beneath it.

And I remember really embracing it.

- Do you still remember her lines?

Like, when it happens, are you tempted to mouth them backstage or when you see her?

- In ways but you know, when you're working on a piece long enough, you know everyone's lines.

Do you know what I mean?

You kind of need to and you kind of do by osmosis, which is nice 'cause this material, it's just brilliant.

- Okay, so I wanna back up a little bit.

I've started with the headline, which is basically for anyone who doesn't know, you're kind of a big deal.

- You are very kind.

- Well, you are.

And you started off in Chattanooga, which is what we love, especially for a PBS station rooted in Chattanooga, is to claim one of our own.

Tell me about growing up in Chattanooga and your childhood and really, you know, maybe the roots of being a theater kid.

- A theater kid, well, very often I say and I really mean this, growing up in Chattanooga, growing up in Tennessee was really great.

It's a beautiful state.

It's hilly and green.

I grew up by the river.

I just it's a sensibility that I embrace fully.

It also truly makes me appreciate living in New York City, fast forward many years as an adult, you know what I mean?

So I feel like I get equal parts city mouse and equal parts country mouse.

And I like that.

The balance is good.

Very warm communities.

Very warm environments.

You know, grew up like you do when you're born and raised in the south, going to church every Sunday and singing in the choir and participating in that way.

Again, very grateful for those things because honestly, you don't realize that you might use any part of those experiences in so many different ways in your life and in your work.

My life is very much a part of the research and the place from which I draw for my work.

So I am grateful for such a rich and honestly diverse upbringing.

- And you started taking acting lessons young, like at 12.

- Yes.

- What did your parents say when you said, "I want to act?"

- Well, well, you know, I want to act came at the end of high school when it was time to declare what you wanted to do.

You know, I was always gonna go to college but what were you gonna major in?

And that's when I made the announcement, "I'm going to go to acting school."

My mother was like, "Yeah."

My dad was like, "Hmm.

Interesting."

Do you know?

And I know, you know, he's got three daughters.

I'm his oldest child and he just wanted to be sure that I was sure and everything was going to be all right.

I can honestly say dad is really good with how things turned out.

So way to go, kid, way to go.

But yes, I was a charter student.

I am a charter student of the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, one of the first 100 students admitted to the school.

The Paideia philosophy has been integral to my learning process and my learning process in life.

I'm so appreciative of that school and everything that it offered to those of us who were very first through the doors and hopefully to classes that came, you know, well after mine.

But I started studying acting in that school at 12.

And it was sort of a magical moment.

I was walking down the hall past the auditorium.

The doors were closed except for just a little space, tiny bit ajar, and I heard one of the instructors, a theater teacher, coaching her class.

And I peeked in and she was in the middle of a sentence.

And it was like she knew I was there.

But she stopped and she turned around, she caught my eye, and she said, "Come in."

And I said, "Okay."

And I went in and I shut the door behind me.

And I never looked back.

Yeah.

- So who gave you the best piece of advice as you were ascending that ladder, knowing that, well, you were pursuing a profession which is, you know, a very select few even think about pursuing and then an even smaller percentage actually make it.

- So many excellent words of advice along the way.

But one of the very earliest that has stuck is my very first acting teacher.

Stella Duffy, rest her soul, said to us, we were 12 and 13 years old, said to us, "If there is anything and I mean anything on this Earth "that you would rather do, you should do it.

"The theater is a giving space "but it will take everything from you."

- She told you that when you were 12?

- 12 and 13 years old.

I'm so grateful to her for that.

She always spoke to us and addressed us as equals.

We were students and she was of course very aware of that.

But she raised our consciousness in terms of our level of power around our art and the learning by simply addressing us as equals.

That tracks entirely with what I know and what I carry in my art from Stella.

- So when did you get the big break?

You know, you go through Florida State.

You're acting in it.

And not that any of that is less than, right?

Any production, from what I've seen, again, I'm not even an aspiring thespian, I just am a lover of shows and musicals and have such a deep respect and admiration for the craft.

- Thank you.

- But from this perspective, right, from the audience perspective, I think we understand, you make it look easy.

And I can imagine it's not, neither the craft nor the journey.

- It's easy if you love it, obviously.

But I say all the time, and I mean this, the theater is for athletes.

We are elite athletes.

Being able to sing and dance and act at the same time or to tease them out and do them separately is a kind of agility.

It's a skillset that is very specialized.

- And that's baseline.

Everyone has to be able to do that.

- I mean, on a level.

- That's a lot.

- Do you know?

On a level.

I have friends that I went to school with who were in the BFA Acting program.

So of course they took movement classes and some singing just to free them as actors who were going to work ultimately in straight plays.

But do you know, if you want to do musicals, you will need the ability to do all three of those things at the same time, do you know?

- Yeah, instead of a I'm trying to think what the word would be.

Instead of a triathlete, it's a tri-act-lete, right?

- I'll take it.

- So of those disciplines, what's your strongest?

- Now, I think all three are my strongest.

I will tell you though that as an actor who was trained and growing, you move through each of those spaces in different intensities.

So for example, coming right out of undergrad as a music theater student, you will likely spend a lot of time in the ensemble, singing and dancing.

And that's exactly where you should be.

So right out of school, I spent a lot of time, even in school because I was working in summer stock in the summers.

I was in the women's ensemble, singing and singing and singing and dancing and dancing and dancing and singing at the same time, you know?

And that's necessary.

But as you continue to sharpen your skillset and you grow and grow up, you come to featured roles.

You come to supporting roles.

And then suddenly you're a leading lady and you don't dance as much because some leading ladies don't dance at all.

Some of them dance a lot.

It depends on the role.

And so having that level of experience gives you a kind of evenness about your work.

But I have never thought I was strongest in any area.

I've always wanted to tell stories.

I've always wanted to be an actress.

- Was there anything you wouldn't try out for?

- Yes, I say, "No," a lot.

Yes, I get asked to audition for things or offered roles that... - And now, now you can be a little bit pickier because you've established yourself.

When you were starting out, you were also particular about what you auditioned for?

- Yes.

- So what was the gauge, right?

Like, how did you decide what was worthy of your time and energy?

- Yeah, in many ways it was about budgeting time and energy.

So if something was too far and I mean, I don't know, like too far away, I needed to be on one side of the country because the next thing was gonna be here or there or something.

It many times came down to logistics more than anything.

But there are some things that are misaligned with just what I want to do as a storyteller.

As a younger actress, I'm trying to think of something that I was like, "No."

I think I said, "No," once to a project because frankly, the salary was not comparable for what they were asking for.

I knew what the skillset was and I knew what it should pay and I knew what I was going to bring or what I'd hoped to bring and we could not settle on the number.

And so I graciously said, "No," for the last time.

And that was that.

Do you know?

- Who taught you that part?

Because I think having financial acumen, right, and confidence in what you're worth, not just as an actor but I think as a female in any business is something I think, as a gender, we're not always great at, right?

We're not always great at demanding our worth.

Who's the first person who said, "You're good at this, "no, you're exceptional at this "and you should get paid what you're valued?"

- I don't know that those words or those phrases are ever actually taught.

I think that you start to learn it as you are a student.

I will say that, I think the soil of it lives inside of education in this particular art form.

As a student, I would audition for summer work and I would get one or two or three or four offers.

And you get to one, compare and contrast.

You get to decide what schedule looks most attractive to you as an artist and then figure out what would make the most sense in all of those areas.

And I think just that, just needing to compare that as an 18, 19, 20-year-old person, artist, young artist, is the beginning of a muscle that you will use in magnificent form much, much later in your career.

I learned it on the job.

- Knowing her worth has certainly paid off for Montego's career.

In addition to her work on and off Broadway, she's made a name for herself in film, voiceover work, and as a guest artist with symphonies around the world.

But it all began with that first big break and the role of a lifetime.

Tell me about the Broadway debut.

- Wow.

The Broadway debut.

I was about three to five years into living in New York.

And up until that time I had been traveling like crazy, working 10, 12 months out of the year in regions around the country, leading lady, just building a resume and loving every single second of it.

I got a call about the original Broadway production of "The Color Purple".

This incredible, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was being made into a musical.

It had already opened and they needed a new standby for the roles of Celie and Nettie, her sister.

I went in, I sang, I sang again, I read again, I sang again, I read again, I got the job.

And I remember arriving at the stage door at the Broadway Theater and buzzing and being let in and thinking, wow, I'm signing in at my first Broadway show.

And so it began.

- And the opening night or the first night that you performed, who was in the audience?

Who had to be there to see you?

- Well, that's a funny story because I got the call that I was going to be going on for Celie, which of course is the centerpiece of this entire play.

And I was super-excited and I worked very hard and thought that I was, you know, prepared.

I was like, "Great.

This is great.

"You know, maybe I shouldn't tell anybody, this first one.

"There'll be other times.

There'll be other times.

"Maybe I shouldn't tell anyone.

Just do this one for me.

"Just make sure everything's in the right place.

"And just do that."

That thought lasted about one and a half minutes.

And then I thought, "What are you doing?

"You've worked so hard.

"You know this.

You're ready.

"You're gonna do the best you can do.

"Even if it's not flawless, "you're gonna do the best you can.

"Invite people."

So I invited everyone.

I invited mom and dad, the dog, grandma, my agent, his friends, any friends I had in the city who were free that night, everybody.

I invited everybody, everyone.

We began the show.

What a warm and wonderful company.

You know, they were veterans, all of them, and I was the new kid and they knew how much it meant to be going on for this role and also, you know, to be doing this as me.

And we did the play.

And I just took it a step at a time, a step at a time, with all of this community holding my hands.

And at the end of the show, the bows are such that everyone goes first and Celie is last.

And her bow happens when a scrim comes up.

She walks through.

I remember standing there and listening to the applause for all of my colleagues, fellow actors, teammates, you know, and hearing that and hearing that.

And then there was the moment when the scrim raised and I was looking at the floor, just taking deep breaths.

And I looked up and the sound was deafening.

Everybody was there.

And it meant so much.

I'll never forget it.

I'll never forget it.

It was incredible.

And it was my first time performing on a Broadway stage.

I'm so glad I said, "Yes and," and invited everyone.

And I'm so glad that it went so beautifully and that everyone was there 'cause we could celebrate together.

We were all witness to that moment, however small for me.

I'm very grateful for that.

Yeah, so that's the first time.

- So how did that moment set the bar for every other moment on stage?

Because that's a lot to live up to, right?

You think you get to there and you're, you know, like done, right?

Like, how could anything be better?

And clearly, anybody who knows your career knows that was just the beginning.

- It's just the beginning.

I couldn't have known.

- Of extraordinary moments.

Like, and I know this is we're in the middle of your story, right?

But you know, you go from there to performing on, you know, every notable stage, right, with all of these from "Les Mis" to then "Memphis".

And "Memphis", I mean, how could we not talk about "Memphis" even though we're Chattanooga women but we got to talk about "Memphis" and your Tony nominee.

When did you find out that you were nominated for a Tony?

- There's that, you know, the Tony nominations are announced, you know, about a month or three weeks or so before the actual ceremony every spring.

And so, you know, it was a typical opening of a show about, you know, six months or more into our run, a brand-new Broadway musical.

And I knew that the nominations were being read.

They were gonna be announced.

But you know, I was working very hard.

You know, "Memphis" is a terrific show but it's a rigor and a special heavy lifting for the role that I played.

So I was in bed, fast asleep, I have to tell you.

- I'm so happy by the way because I picture all of these famous people in their pajamas finding out and then like having to put on their face or do something.

- Fast asleep.

The phone rings.

And even the way the phone rang was like especially like wild and jangly.

And I pick it up and my publicist is screaming, screaming, like screaming joy into the phone.

And she's like, "You're nominated.

"You're nominated.

You're nominated."

And I was like, you know?

So it was like someone turning a crank, you know?

Suddenly the sound like irised out.

But that was the moment, sort of sleepy, you know, in my pajamas, half in, half out of bed with the phone like vibrating in my hand and one of my team members, members of my team saying, "Hey, you'll never believe it but believe it.

"You've been nominated for a Tony Award."

- Montego's performance in "Memphis" made a big splash in the theater world.

In addition to the Tony nomination, she also won the Outer Critics Circle Award and the prestigious Drama Desk Award for her work in the production.

But despite all the accolades and recognition, for Montego it's still all about the love of the craft.

How fun is it?

- The most fun.

Exhausting beyond all means you could possibly know but the most fun.

Oh, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Absolutely.

- How exhausting is it?

- Beyond all, yeah.

- I mean, you said, "Exhausting," but how exactly because I mean, I joke about like that my nerves are rattled a little bit because I know you're performing in a few hours.

But I mean, are you on voice rest?

Are you on special diet?

Are you like not eating dairy?

I'm so curious how all of these things play into your profession and how you balance out that personal?

- Right, well, every actor's different, obviously.

Every instrument is different.

Some people can eat peanut butter five seconds before they sing and you'd never know it, you know what I mean?

Some people like swear off peanut butter for months before they even begin because that's how it has to be.

Do you know?

So everyone is different.

And meeting actors working with different kinds of energies and different kinds of animals inside their art is always so interesting to me.

I like to keep it simple.

I like to be sure my body's ready to go.

So I warm up physically.

I warm up vocally.

When the show's over, any member of my company, any of my companies will tell you, you will hear Montego cooling down, just bringing the voice back, do you know, 'cause I've given it permission to fly in any direction for the duration of the show and now I need to bring it back to this space where I can just speak to you without having anything additional weighing the voice down or pulling it down.

And, you know, diet is what it would be for any person, do you know?

I like to be properly fed and watered, as my granddad would say.

- And by the way, I know people have been wondering this the whole episode.

Montego Glover is your given name.

- It is my given name.

- It's not your stage name.

- It is not.

- It's just so perfect.

It's like your parents named you and said, "She will be a famous actor one day.

"It has been deemed in the stars, right?

"It is aligned.

It is written."

- Oh my goodness.

It is something.

I think it took me a while to sort of get accustomed to it.

I had to grow into it, you know?

But it has been a gift in its own way.

I do think this is funny though.

I've heard this said to me more than once.

Two people who both know me but don't know that the other person knows me will be in conversation.

And inevitably one of them will say, "Well, my friend Montego."

And the other person goes, "Montego Glover?"

'Cause there's no way you're talking about Montego Smith.

Is it Montego Glover?

Because no one knows another one.

We have to be talking about the same one.

Isn't that funny?

Montego Glover?

Yes.

- Well, I know you've said you have to be watered and fed every day.

And I hope you have been watered and fed today.

- I sound like such a Tennesseean saying that.

- I love it, no, it's like me saying we're a hop and a skip from Chattanooga.

I also might have seen a video you put out about your routine inside your dressing room and that there are five essential things that you have to have and I don't know if you travel with them too but are these real, these five things?

- These are real.

- Okay, now remind me what they are.

- Oh my goodness.

You're putting me on the spot.

I like my gummies.

My dish for my jewels.

My hand cream from L'Occitane.

My Yankees ball cap.

And a clock.

- And a clock.

Well, I did notice when you were putting on your ball cap that you had on a Yankees cap, which respect.

You've been in New York a long time.

- I'm a New Yorker.

You understand.

- However.

- By me.

- Wait a second.

- There's a thing?

- There's a thing.

I couldn't let you go back to New York without having another option to wear.

So on behalf of "The A List", we wanted you to have this.

It's actually on behalf of Chattanooga, we want you to have this.

You can go ahead and open it because it's very important.

- I love presents.

How did you know this about me?

- Well, I may or may not have done a little research.

But we hope you'll add this to your special collection.

- You know I will.

- And hopefully... - It's perfect.

Look at that.

It's perfect.

I love it.

- Well, we love that you claim Chattanooga and I promise you, Montego, Chattanooga will forever claim you.

- You're so kind.

Thank you.

- Well, thank you for being with us.

- It is my pleasure.

Thank you so much.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] Watch even more of the shows you love on the free PBS app.

- [Announcer] Funding for this program was provided by... - [Narrator] Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory & Florist, dedicated to helping you celebrate your life or the life of a loved one for over 85 years.

Chattanooga Funeral Home believes that each funeral should be as unique and memorable as the life being honored.

- [Announcer] This program is also made possible by support from viewers like you, thank you.