Biography
Montego
Glover
was born in
Macon, Georgia and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She attended the Chattanooga School for the
Arts & Sciences, one of the very first schools in the country to be founded
on the Paideia Teaching Philosophy.
After graduation from CSAS, Montego went on to Florida State
University in Tallahassee, Florida where she received her Bachelor of
Fine Arts in Music Theatre with Honors.
And after college spent time working as an actress/singer/dancer in
Japan and around the United States before moving to Orlando, Florida to begin
work on numerous premiere projects for the Walt Disney World Company. After a very successful stint at WDW, Montego
made her move to New York.
In New
York, Montego made her Broadway debut in The Color Purple in the
roles of Celie & Nettie, and
her Off-Broadway debut in The Pirates of Penzance (a reimaging of
the classic G&S operetta) whereby Mabel not only sang legit soprano,
but blues, gospel, r&b, pop, and music theatre. Pirates…landed her Dreamgirls:
the 20th Anniversary Concert (the famous “One Night Only”
concert held at what is now the Hilton Theatre), followed by the
workshop production of Radiant Baby under the direction of George C.
Wolfe at the Public Theatre.
Next came Ghetto Superstar, again at the Public, followed
by Me & Juliet at the York Theatre, and a new play called Roses
Are Brown at Theatre for the New City.
While
based in New York, Montego has been privileged to travel to a number of
exciting theatre companies both near New York and around the country including:
the Geffen Playhouse (Los Angeles),
North Shore Music Theatre (Beverly, Mass.), St. Louis MUNY,
Pittsburgh CLO, North Carolina Theatre (Raleigh), Music
Theatre Wichita, Sacramento Music Circus, Round House Theatre
(Bethesda, MD), Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma City, Opera Grand Rapids,
Papermill Playhouse (Millburn, NJ), The Huntington Theatre
(Boston), Canadian Stage Company & the New Yorker Theatre (Toronto). And the productions have been as varied as
the locations: Aida (4 productions in the role of Aida, IRNE
Award-Best Actress in a Musical), Ragtime (2 productions,
Sarah), Dreamgirls (Lorrell), Into The Woods (Red Riding Hood) Oklahoma
(Ado Annie), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia), Westside Story (Anita),
Jesus Christ Superstar (Mary Magadelene), Smokey Joe's Cafe (Brenda),
Cookin’ at the Cookery (4
productions as the Narrator, IRNE & Dora Award Nominations), Ain’t
Misbehavin’ (Charlaine), and Once On This Island (TiMoune, Helen
Hayes Award Nomination) among others.
Montego also has three World Premieres
to her credit. Most recenty, Saint
Heaven, book by Martin Casella, music & lyrics by Keith
Gordon, directed by Matt Lenz, at Stamford Center for the Arts,
Rich Forum. A play called The
Conservationist written by English playwright Mark Wheatley with the Asolo
Theatre Company. And Memphis,
co-produced by North Shore Music Theatre & Theatreworks/Palo Alto,
book by Joe DiPietro, music & lyrics by David Bryan, directed
by Gabriel Barre. Memphis earned Montego
a third IRNE Award Nomination, and a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre
Critic’s Award Nomination for Best Female Performance in a Musical.
While
theatre and music continue to thrive, Montego also spends time on studio
recording. She can be heard on the Dreamgirls 20th Anniversary double
cd, the original cast recording of Festival of the Lion King and Rhythm
of One both for Disney, the new concept recording of Pirates of
Penzance reprising her role as Mabel, and several recordings for the
Broadway Inspirational Voices, a very prestigious choir of invited
members from the Broadway community, under the direction of Mr. Michael
McElroy. Montego is a member of the BIV and serves as Soprano
Section Leader, a job she really enjoys.
It’s true
that Montego came to New York to work in the theatre. However, TV, radio, voiceover, commercials
and film have become an exciting and innovative area of her career as
well. Montego has done television,
commercials, and voiceover for numerous companies including: Sony, Nickelodeon,
Royal Caribbean, the Oxygen Network, Wishbone, Miller
Beer, MTV & TRL, Pepsi, Hershey’s, WE
(Women’s Entertainment), Kraft, “The Guiding Light” on CBS,
and “The Wonderful World of Disney” for ABC. Most recently, Montego completed a
short film called "Flicker Flutter" with the Raw
Impressions Film Festival, which enjoyed screenings in both New York and
Los Angeles. Interestingly enough, Montego
got her commercial representation from her work on a theatre project.
And while
theatre and commercials keep Montego busy, concert work has emerged as a
way to both travel and work in New York, and celebrate composers in a setting
different from fully mounted musicals or studio recording. Montego has been privileged to concertize
with the Chicago Humanites Festival, the New York City Theatre Museum
(Hudson Theatre), the Museum of Television and Radio (Mer Theatre, New
York), Seven Days of Opening Nights (Ruby Diamond Hall, Tallahassee,
Florida), The Artist’s Songbook with Canadian Stage Company (Toronto), 100 Years Of
Arlen with the Tulsa Signature Orchestra, Broadway Inspirational
Voices (Town Hall), Broadway Divas, and Broadway Meets Country
(Jazz at Lincoln Center).
A proud
member of AEA, SAG, and AFTRA, Montego continues to
grow, learn and thrive as an artist.
And as the
song by Cy Coleman says, "the
best is yet to come".
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