Sister Act musical sees Casey Donovan in first lead role at Crown Theatre Perth as Deloris Van Cartier

Touring to Perth with a convent of nuns is not a prophecy Casey Donovan would ever have believed would become a divine truth. Then again, neither were her titles of Australian Idol in 2004, Queen of the Jungle after winning I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Australia in 2017, or Queen of New Year’s Eve for delivering her annual powerhouse performances at Sydney Opera House for ABC’s New Year’s Eve concert broadcast. Donovan’s latest role as Deloris Van Cartier in the Australian production Sister Act is a milestone moment, marking her first musical theatre lead as she dons the habit of the character made famous by Whoopi Goldberg in the 1992 film of the same name. “I pay homage to Whoopi Goldberg in this role, but I also got to make it my own and challenge myself, have fun and step outside of the ‘Whoopi-isms’ to kind of create Deloris and give her my own feel,” Donovan tells STM. “She’s quick, she’s witty, she’s front-footed, she’s loud, she’s bright, she’s all of these different colours. “She goes on quite the journey, from seeing her mob boyfriend kill someone to being thrown into a convent to hide until the court case happens, and then she gets chased down in the convent. “It’s a bunch of women who get together to find a beautiful sisterhood that teaches Deloris that maybe the glitz and glamour isn’t what she needs, and I think that’s just a really beautiful arc.” Donovan’s first foray into musical theatre began right here in Perth, when in 2010 she stepped into the Black Swan State Theatre Company rehearsal room to play sassy Cynthia McCrae alongside Christine Anu in Tony Briggs’ The Sapphires. She had no intention or ambition at the time to pursue it as a career, but has gone on to shine in musicals including We Will Rock You, Chicago, 9 To 5 The Musical, and most recently at Crown Theatre Perth, as Angelique in & Juliet. “I thought I was just doing another gig with The Sapphires and off we went,” 36-year-old Melbourne-based Donovan says. “It was certainly a great way to enter into the musical theatre scene. It taught me so many things about myself and the musical theatre world, and I had some great mentors back then to give me that gentle love and kindness to be able to do musical theatre. It’s a big job. It’s an elite sport and it’s so much fun. I’m glad I opened up that door and pursued it.” While Donovan clearly had the vocal talent nailed, she says it took her a little longer to feel comfortable with acting and choreography as she grappled with a great deal of imposter syndrome with her lack of formal training. She need not have worried so much. “The musical theatre community is such a beautiful community in that, we’re all not so much outcasts, but we have a different way of how we look at life,” Donovan says. “We want to tell stories, or we want to make people laugh and feel good about themselves, and we get to collectively do that on stage. It’s just a beautiful thing to be a part of, and I think that’s what keeps calling me back. “Also just getting to challenge myself and try on different characters and work with different creatives from all around the world. I’m forever collecting new tools to put in my tool belt, and I love that.” Raised in Bankstown by mum Tracy and stepfather Norm, Donovan’s formative years in western Sydney may have been a little rough around the edges but they taught the versatile performer some invaluable life lessons she has carried throughout the years. While musical talent runs through her paternal Indigenous roots in Gumbaynggirr country on the NSW mid-north Coast, with several family members in Aboriginal country band The Donovans, estrangement meant Donovan’s first music teacher was the radio instead. Initially she thought her calling was going to be as a soccer player. “I wanted to be a goalie, but that didn’t end up happening,” she says. “I found music when I was a young teen. I didn’t know there was something more to me than what I was doing, but my mum was like, ‘You know what? You should look into that’, so that’s kind of how I fell into music. “My mates wanted to study music, and we all joined bands, and then I was a soloist and played guitar. It was a nice kind of segue from sport to music for me.” Donovan was studying at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney when Norm gave her an ultimatum to audition for Australian Idol that ended up with her winning the show at just 16 years old. “If I didn’t audition, they were going to take me out of music school because they weren’t going to pay all that money if I wasn’t going to do anything with it,” she says. “I guess he and my mum could see that there was something more to just singing around Bankstown. “It just seems like a lifetime ago, but it also feels like yesterday. I look back at my time on Idol with love and curiosity and gratefulness that I was able to get through it, test myself ,and test my boundaries. It’s not a bad experience, that’s for sure.” Donovan is also reuniting with Australian Idol judge Marcia Hines as a special guest on the recently announced Marcia Sings Summer tour later this year. The concert will feature Hines and Donovan paying tribute to Donna Summer by performing some of the disco diva’s biggest hits. In a fun twist of fate, there is also a Donna Summer reference in Sister Act. “It’s amazing how the universe works,” Donovan says. The same can be said for Donovan’s affairs of the heart where — after bravely going public with her horrifying ordeal of being the target of a six-year catfishing hoax — she has now found love with fiancee Renee Sharples. The couple met online through a “Bumble stumble” during Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, and were enjoying a rare break between Donovan’s gigs in June 2024 when Sharples — previously a paramedic lecturer at La Trobe University who is now studying a PhD — popped the question. “I think we might be able to find the time in 2030 to make it official,” queer-identifying Donovan laughs when asked about wedding plans. “It’s just finding those moments where we can spend time together and talk about what we want to do with our lives.” In the more immediate future, Donovan will celebrate her 37th birthday on stage at Crown Theatre Perth alongside fellow Sister Act Taureans Genevieve Lemon as Mother Superior and Rhonda Burchmore as choir leader Sister Mary Lazarus. After opening in Sydney last August, the uplifting Australian production has been entertaining audiences wherever it tours with its familiar film storyline paired with original music by Tony and Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken (Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin). “Alan Menken is an absolute genius ,and also the lyricist Glenn Slater,” Donovan says about the musical that premiered in London’s West End in 2009 with Goldberg as a producer. “I know a lot of people are like, ‘But it’s not the music from the movie’ and I’m like ‘No, it’s not, it’s better’. It’s still got the bops, and it’s still got the gospel feel and the movie-like sounds. It’s just new music and you get songs like Raise Your Voice and Fabulous, Baby! and Sister Act and Bless Our Show. “It gets to drive the musical forward as well. I feel like a lot of people sometimes forget that the music in the show is telling the story when words can’t, and I love that about musical theatre. “That’s another thing that kind of grabbed me about this show, the music, and Deloris just being an absolute disco diva. Menken certainly takes a lot of inspiration from 70s disco.” With the show’s odes to 1970s Summer and all the divas from that era, it is unsurprising the audience feedback Donovan receives is nothing short of heavenly, even from reluctant partners dragged along to the theatre. “When the partners of the thespians come along and enjoy themselves, I think we’re winning,” Donovan says gleefully. “I’m really taking the joy that it is to play a leading lady. It just kind of reassures me that I’m on the right path in my life and I’m OK with that. To be trusted in a role like Deloris Van Cartier, it’s an honour and a privilege. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be able to love what I do and do what I love.” Sister Act is at Crown Theatre Perth from April 26 to May 25. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.au.