Wicked will soon fly into Crown Theatre Perth with leading ladies Sheridan Adams and Courtney Monsma

An overqualified usher with huge musical theatre dreams of her own watched longingly as performers Courtney Monsma and Jemma Rix took to the stage as Anna and Elsa throughout their 2021 Melbourne season of Frozen The Musical at Her Majesty’s Theatre. After waiting in the wings for what felt like forever, Sheridan Adams is now relishing her chance to fly, defying gravity in her first, and one of the ultimate leading lady roles in musical theatre — Wicked’s Elphaba. In an act of Australian musical theatre kismet, not only is Elphaba the character that propelled Rix to stardom more than a decade ago, but Adams is playing opposite Monsma as the popularly pink Glinda. “I saw Jemma and Courtney every single night and remember looking up at that stage as they sang roles I would love to sing and perform,” Adams, 26, recounts. “I remember thinking, ‘God, I really, really wish I could be like them.’ So to now be, not only on stage with Courtney, but also to be sharing this journey with her, with everything that goes on behind the scenes, and to be finding my own feet alongside her, is pretty spectacular.” The slight career delay was care of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Adams graduating from Victorian College of the Arts at the end of 2019. Grateful to have at least completed her training before the world stopped, it was a terrifying time where Adams grappled with all the thoughts and emotions of what the industry she had just graduated into might look like in years to come — if there would even be a live performance future. “I joke that I became a jaded actor a lot quicker, and I was forced to confront some really intense inner conflict that a lot of actors go through throughout their career,” she shares. “I made that decision in that year to go ‘No, this is what I want to do. I love it. This is what I’ve always dreamed of, and I’m going to give it my all.’ I’m really glad I did, because then, once we opened up again, I managed to land a role in Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical.” Living the cliche Melbourne girl experience, Adams was at Southern Cross railway station on her way home from rehearsals from her next musical Tick, Tick . . . Boom! when she received the phone call that changed her life. Having grown up In Melbourne’s west, Adams attributes her pop music-loving mum to at first falling for the storytelling and lyricism of pop music — she’s a huge Swiftie — before discovering musical theatre through her first high school musical, aptly The Wizard of Oz. Too young for Dorothy — although it did not stop her auditioning for the lead — Adams played a crow and munchkin, gleefully delighting in her own origin story as being a Wicked publicist’s dream, for a musical following the untold tale of the Witches of Oz. Since its Broadway world premiere in 2003, originally starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, Wicked has become the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history. It follows the journey of two young women who meet in the land of Oz, well before Dorothy drops in. The rivals become friends until society pits them against each other, calling one “good” and the other “wicked”. “I discovered The Wizard of Oz, and then I discovered Wicked, so I was singing The Wizard And I when I was 14,” says Adams, who sings the same Wicked song during her vocal warm-up before every performance. “When it comes to Elphaba, and you talk about Jemma Rix, these roles have created careers and created stars, and I just feel so grateful that I get to be amongst some of those women in this country who get to tell stories on stage. “But I’m also very aware Elphaba connects to so many people for so many reasons. It shows that it’s okay to be who they are and to accept that, and I think that’s what the role really is. I’ve recently been diagnosed with autism, and just kind of finding that difference within myself, and kind of learning to accept that we’re not ‘normal’ but we’re pretty awesome, and that we can make a change in this world, just like Elphaba does.” Adams’ autism diagnosis has been an eye-opening experience, one that has enabled her to love and understand that side of herself a little bit more, where “looking back on your life at little moments or big moments, things just make a whole lot more sense”. Regarding Elphaba as the hardest role she thinks she will ever play, Adams says the iconic character goes on her own journey throughout the musical, beginning as a hopeful young university student with a dream, before transforming into the infamous Wicked Witch of the West. “I don’t like to tell people who haven’t seen Wicked too much about her journey, and her story, because I just think it’s so brilliant to watch it unfold in front of you, especially something like (Wicked song) Defying Gravity,” Adams says. “I love talking to people at stage door when they tell me it’s their first time ever seeing it. I get very, very excited and I lose my mind a little bit, because I remember seeing it when I was 16.” On the subject of the showstopping Defying Gravity, Adams says in the context of the production, the biggest challenge is finding the stamina for the 90 minutes leading up to it. “In the beginning, it felt like there was a lot of pressure or comparison or competition, and honestly, that was probably something that my brain liked to conjure up,” she says. “There have been 20 years of women who have played the role, so you kind of feel that history behind you, which is scary as a young woman taking on her first lead role. But now, over a year into the show, I’m just so excited right before I get into that levitator, and before I fly. I just know what kind of experience the audience is about to have. “I really like to make sure that I’m telling that story through the lyrics, through the music. She’s finding her power. She’s literally transforming in front of your eyes, it’s such an intense, emotional moment. The vocals are important, but so is what the song makes you feel.” Without doubt one of the best nights of Adams’ life, the current Australian production opened in Sydney in August 2023 with Monsma — who according to Adams has brilliant comedic instincts and the dream vocals of an angel — sharing in the nervous energy right alongside her. “Courtney values Glinda just as much as I value Elphaba, so we’re just like these two young women who are constantly fangirling on stage, and just having the most fun ever,” Adams says. “There’s a bond, and there’s a connection that has also been forged throughout rehearsals and throughout this whole entire journey that you can’t even really explain. It’s just kind of this unspoken love and respect and admiration.” Monsma adds: “Tackling these massive roles together, we really did just cling to each other because that’s what the story is about. Ultimately, it’s the support that you need to get through this massive experience and the early days were really exciting. I think we both had so much gratitude and as time went on, we just got really close with all the material. It was very important for us to have that foundation because it’s such a big job.” Monsma notes Adams is as authentic and grounded as the character she plays, with a beautiful uniqueness that shines on stage, even if that shine has a green hue, which Adams regards as “a badge of honour” when “de-greenifying” after a show. “It’s easy being green,” Adams jokes. Similarly, Monsma is at ease with her pinkification, having wanted to be part of the Wicked alumni since the second she first heard the soundtrack, finding her bubble-filled reality of it coming to fruition rather unbelievable. It is an ambition the Gold Coast-based, Queensland Conservatorium graduate shared with her older sister of two years, Emily, who is also in the Wicked ensemble. “She’s actually one of my understudies, which is incredible,” says 27-year-old Monsma, whose additional professional career highlights include SIX The Musical at Sydney Opera House, the Australasian tour of Disney’s Aladdin and Australian drama television series Paper Dolls. “It’s such a gift to know that sometimes when I’m off (from the show), that she’s getting to live her dream, and it makes me super happy. “We went through the audition process together. I got cast first, and it didn’t quite feel right, knowing I’d got the news, and she hadn’t yet. Then as soon as she got her news, I was really excited.” Having your sister on tour also helps with homesickness, while a mutual understanding and respect for your leading lady co-star — who Monsma affectionately refers to as “Shez” — assists with onstage chemistry as, to some extent, life imitates art. “At the heart of this musical is friendship and a celebration of adversity,” Monsma says. “That’s the beauty about Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship, where it’s an unlikely bond of two people. “It’s been one of my greatest joys, just watching Sheridan come into her light. I’m so grateful because my Glinda is only as good as I am because I’m getting to play alongside her. “We’ve just done over 400 shows, and you’d think you’d get to that amount, and you’d be sick of the material and the role, but every day I get to sing it, it’s enjoyable. I think that’s the magic thing about Wicked, it’s just so timeless.” Wicked is at Crown Theatre Perth from 15th December 2024 to 2nd February 2025. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.au.