Montego Glover on the Tonys, the Obamas and Living the Dream in Memphis

Broadway loves a Cinderella story, and Memphis is filled with them: the comeback of Chad Kimball as Huey, the Tony-winning composing debut of rock star David Bryan and the Best Musical Tony itself for this long-in-development show. And then there’s Montego Glover, a previously unknown actress with a long list of voiceover credits (including the Charmin cartoon bear) but a short Broadway resume (understudying at The Color Purple). She stuck with the role of R&B singer Felicia Farrell through multiple out-of town productions of Memphis over six years—and the producers stuck with her when the show made it to Broadway. By the end of the season, Glover had a Drama Desk Award, a Tony nomination and an invitation to sing for the President at Ford’s Theatre. She recently chatted with Broadway.com about what the past year has been like, personally and professionally.

You’ve had an exciting year, including a Tony nomination and a star spot at the Ford’s Theatre gala. First of all, what was it like singing for the Obamas?
I was thrilled to represent our show. It’s one thing to have the First Lady see the work you’ve put together in your house [Broadway’s Shubert Theatre], but to be invited to the White House and to celebrate Ford’s Theatre was just incredible. She’s so lovely and gracious, as is the President, and it meant a lot to sing that song [“Colored Woman”], which is so personal to me.

In the video clip of your performance, President and Mrs. Obama are grinning at you from the first row. Was that distracting?
I promised myself that I would not look at them during the singing of the song. I was afraid I might forget the words—and I’ve sung that song more times than I can count! I could feel their energy during the show, but I had to maintain focus. After the concert, the President took the stage to give his address and I happened to be standing on the end of the line of artists, so they actually spoke to me first. I had met them earlier in the evening for a picture, and they were both so lovely.

You and Michelle both have killer arms. Did you compare?
No [laughs]. She always looks beautiful, so I was thrilled just to be standing face to face with her.

Let’s look back for a second at Tony season. Did you find it fun?
It’s ultimately the most fun ever, but it requires concentration and a lot of preparation. I had a great time because I had been preparing for it since we started working on the piece—I pulled together my team and made sure everyone shared the work and knew their job. The day [of Tony Awards] itself is a very long workday for everyone involved, and it requires a lot of strategizing. I feel like I succeeded in that, so there was a tremendous amount of stress taken off of me. I’m thrilled with how everything came together.

When the Best Actress category came up, did you think you were going to win?
I thought I had a very, very, very good shot. I had a nice, clean, honest, pure, full-heart, completely grateful, thankful shot at that Tony Award.

So, were you disappointed when Catherine Zeta-Jones won?
It’s impossible to be disappointed because you’re sitting there—you’ve been invited [to the Tonys]. Disappointment is not being in contention at all, not being recognized by the community. In the moment, you just breathe and take it in. And whatever name is called is the name called. It happens in a second.

What did you think of Hunter Foster’s “Give the Tonys Back to Broadway” group, which seemed to suggest that Hollywood stars get too much attention. Did you agree with him?
To be perfectly honest with you, I had no idea any of that had happened. I know nothing of it.

It was a Facebook group saying that non-celebrity actors should be the focus of the Tonys.
Here’s what I’ve always loved about Broadway: that it accepts and prizes people who want to be actors in the theater. There are actors who live primarily on film and television, and other actors who live primarily in the theater. I don’t think that Broadway can be any less welcoming of actors as long as those people are willing to do the kind of work that theater actors do. Eight performances a week of anything is hard work. And it should be recognized as such.

No matter who’s doing it.
No matter who’s doing it. We’re all in the same community; it’s just a matter of recognizing that when it comes to the theater, it has to be about the work and never, ever, about anything else. For an actor, it’s the hardest job there is.

Well, you and Chad Kimball must be thrilled, because your show won Best Musical, it’s a hit, and they opened it without Beyonce as Felicia and whoever else as Huey…
…Jack Black [laughs]. Right! One of the thrills of having won Best Musical is that Memphis is doing the job of a Broadway show the way it’s meant to be done, from the ground up—creating stars, creating a show that is marvelous on its own merit. The show hinges on nothing but the storytelling, and that is freeing for us. All we have to do is the play, and the play is very good.

I love the story you told us about kissing Chad at your audition and then the two of you pulling back and looking at each other, like “Hi!” How many times have you kissed that man?
I have no idea [laughs]. He keeps better count than I do. We’ve been doing it for so long, it’s part of life now. He’s on the short list of people I’ve kissed the most in my life.

How do you avoid getting on each other’s nerves?
We do a really good job of having our own lives outside of the job. Chad has a clothing line and other responsibilities, and I have a full career in commercials and TV and concerts. When we’re at work, we are there for each other completely, and when we leave the theater, there’s very little contact because we want to give each other space. We are reaching for each other onstage because we’re not bound to each other away from work.

Your real-life significant others have never been jealous of your relationship?
Not to my knowledge. I mean, I’m not seeing anyone, and I don’t know about Chad. But no, we’ve never had that issue.

You must have people at the stage door trying to date you or fix you up!
Not at all [laughs]. If you know any lovely young men… There’s got to be one boy out there with a crush who’s willing to go out with a nice girl who has her own job.

You grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Was your life touched by racism in any way?
I like to call my childhood very much “new south.” I was fortunate to be part of a community where racism was not tolerated. I grew up in a mostly integrated neighborhood and was part of a school devoted to arts education and teaching children to be the best possible citizens they could be. Who has time for racism when you’re trying to teach calculus and get students to read Shakespeare and Austen and Steinbeck?

Have you met any of the iconic African-American actresses who came before you on Broadway? Has Leslie Uggams come to see the show, for example, or Diahann Carroll?
Leslie is planning to see the show. Her daughter and I are friends, and Leslie and I concertized together a few years ago at the Chicago Humanities Festival. I’ve not met Miss Carroll. I had a chance to sit backstage with Phylicia Rashad and Debbie Allen [aunt and mother of Memphis ensemble member Vivian Nixon].

How about Oprah? You were in The Color Purple!
Oprah has not come. Gayle King has come once or twice, so maybe when Oprah wraps up her TV show, she will be able to take in a little more theater!

How long do you see yourself staying with the show?
The truth about Memphis is that I’ve worked so hard and so long to see it to this place—and I’m so privileged and thankful to be in this place with it rather than watching from the sidelines—I want to live in the light of it and the fun of it for as long as I feel the light on my face. Having a role written on you is one of the greatest gifts an actor could ever hope for. If you get to do it once in your career, it’s a miracle, and if you get to do it more than once, it’s beyond anything you could ever think of. I’m still able to celebrate it every night, and I embrace that fully.

See Montego Glover in Memphis at the Shubert Theatre.