By Michael Koziol
Bianca Spender “Brick Red Crepe Jean” dress. Credit:Saskia Wilson
Casey Donovan’s new life got off to a bad start. She moved to Melbourne from Sydney on the day the border between NSW and Victoria was slammed shut in that tumultuous first year of the pandemic.
“I literally just snuck in,” she says. “One of the trucks didn’t make it across the border in time.”
When you’re about to be locked down in your new home for months, you want all your possessions with you. And Donovan wasn’t just trying to get started in a new city – like every other entertainer, she was also robbed of the ability to perform. “It was bizarre … I lost all of my work and I was really at a dead end.”
But Donovan, who’s 34 now and a world away from the shy 16-year-old thrust into the national spotlight when she won Australian Idol, was also one of those people who thrived in quarantine – or that’s how she chooses to see it.
Lacoste trench from Depop. Dion Lee skivvy. Bed Threads linen sheets in “Pink Clay” and “Rust”. Credit:Saskia Wilson
In the aftermath, she has emerged slimmed down, loved up and about to star in one of the year’s most anticipated stage shows, & Juliet, a jukebox musical built around the songs of celebrated Swedish songwriter Max Martin that imagines Juliet doesn’t die at the end of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Musical theatre was always going to be a natural fit for someone with Donovan’s vocal power, and over the years she has taken roles in The Sapphires and We Will Rock You, as Mama Morton in Chicago and, last year, as Judy Bernly (played by Jane Fonda in the 1980 film) in 9 to 5.
In & Juliet, Donovan plays Juliet’s nurse and confidante, Angélique. “She’s a bit of a worrier, she’s a bit nervous. But she also has a love story in the show, which I’m really excited to play.”
There are sure to be a few diehard traditionalists in Melbourne’s Regent Theatre stands – as there were on London’s West End – who baulk at the idea of a sequel to a Shakespearean classic. But Donovan loves reinvention (of course she does), not to mention the way David West Read’s book connects with a younger, modern audience.
“A lot of my life has been so open and so honest: going through the catfishing and being on TV shows, and coming out on top.”
“It’s asking more questions, and I think that’s really healthy in today’s society,” she says. “We can’t have a world without change, that’s for sure.”
Donovan knows all about change and reinvention. Indeed, one reason she is so keen to portray a love story in & Juliet is because she is now happily in love herself – with girlfriend Renee Sharples, another pandemic lockdown discovery. They met on dating app Bumble. “It was the first time I’d ever set my search to ‘women only’,” Donovan says of her “Bumble stumble”.
These were the bad old days when long-suffering Melburnians weren’t allowed to travel beyond five kilometres of home and were limited to an hour of exercise a day. Their first date was a “COVID-safe walk” with police and army officers milling nearby. But again, Donovan saw the bright side. “It was very organic, like back in the days before the internet,” she says.
Donovan has had her share of public struggles. In 2014, she confessed to being the victim of catfishing, a phenomenon in which someone impersonates a romantic interest, usually online. In her case it was a woman pretending to be a man who lured her into a fake phone relationship for six years. The person turned out to be a “friend” known to Donovan who orchestrated sexual encounters with her which supposedly pleased this fictional man.
Ginger & Smart “Dimensions” sweater. Ryan Storer earrings.Credit:Saskia Wilson
Donovan has said the experience made her question her sexuality. Asked now how she identifies, she says: “I identify as Casey.”
She goes on: “It was an interesting time and just a journey that I’ve been going on. It was a really nice segue into the woman that I’ve become. A lot of my life has been so open and so honest: going through the catfishing and being on TV shows, and coming out on top.”
Open and honest is right. Donovan proudly tells of the times she drove Ubers or worked as a medical receptionist when work dried up and she needed money. Other entertainers might be reluctant to acknowledge the unglamorous realities of their capricious industry, where success is fleeting and opportunities are unpredictable. Not Donovan.
“It was very grounding for me,” she says. “My parents have put the morals into me that you need to work to get where you need to be. In late 2016, I’d just finished the musical We Will Rock You and was going through a management change. Money doesn’t grow off trees. I just went out and got a job and reconnected with myself. I don’t fear that.”
There are no such career ebbs for Donovan at present – quite the opposite. When we speak in mid-January, the rehearsals for & Juliet have just commenced and she’s smashed TV performances for Carols by Candlelight and the ABC’s New Year’s Eve broadcast. She also has an infectious new single, Shake It – a happy, boppy number that perfectly matches where she’s at in life.
The new Casey Donovan is also, quite evidently, a slimmer one. Aided by a Jenny Craig program, she has dropped to less than 100 kilograms for the first time in her adult life, with a few more to go before she reaches her goal. The results were rapid, too – 15 kilograms in 12 weeks, she says.
In the world of popular culture that Donovan inhabits, body positivity is having arguably more than just a moment. Among the younger, progressive audiences on TikTok, fat-shaming is decidedly not okay, while celebrating different body types is cool and laudable.
“The likes of Lizzo – and I’ll even lump myself in there – are raising awareness,” Donovan says. “I love the fact there’s a movement happening.
“Being big is not the end of the world, and that’s not someone else’s story to tell. The fact that women and men are coming together in these spaces to embrace each other and bring people up is one of the healthiest things people can do.”
Bianca Spender “Leda” gown. Dents “Tallulah” gloves. Bed Threads “Limoncello” linen sheet. Credit:Saskia Wilson
But there’s another side to the equation; a small section of the community thinks that Donovan has capitulated to traditional beauty standards by losing weight. In this view of the world, she says, the attitude is: “You’re not being proud of who you are.”
They’re not afraid to tell her what they think. “People have been quite nasty to me because they see that I’m on this healthy lifestyle and there’s a lot of negativity that comes with that,” she says. “Everyone’s got an opinion.”
Everyone has an opinion. That’s also Donovan’s main refrain when I ask her about some of the big political matters confronting First Nations people, such as the upcoming referendum on whether to include an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the Constitution, or whether to change the date of Australia Day away from January 26.
Donovan supports changing the date. But she’s also conscious of the power of taking the national stage as a Gumbaynggirr and Dungari woman, which is why she performed in the official Australia Day celebrations last month, broadcast on the ABC.
“All I wish for in this world is for people to come together, to be kind, to listen and converse,” she says. “We’ve already lost a lot of elders and we’ve already lost a lot of our knowledge. Let’s not drown that out in politics. Let’s have conversations.”
While Donovan has performed at the Mardi Gras after-party and co-hosted last year’s ABC coverage, this year she will take an even bigger role with Sydney WorldPride, co-hosting the opening concert alongside Courtney Act. She will also star in the Blak & Deadly First Nations gala concert at the Sydney Opera House.
For Donovan, it will also be special to celebrate with Renee. “She’s an amazing human who’s added so much happiness and love and joy to my life. It’s beautiful to share those moments with her. For so long I’ve just done everything on my own.”
In the past, Donovan has spoken about impostor syndrome; essentially the mistaken belief that we aren’t qualified to do what we’re doing and we’re going to be found out. She still has to overcome that feeling, but has the tools to deal with it now.
“It’s okay to be happy, it’s okay to enjoy life – which scares a lot of people,” she says.
“That’s where the impostor syndrome creeps in. We think we’re not worthy, maybe because people have told us that our whole lives, or we just feel that.
“I’m just in a really great space. I’m enjoying life. Yes, we all have lows, highs, ups, downs, in-betweens, but it’s learning how to deal with those and grow – because we never stop growing.”
Despite all that satisfaction – or maybe because of it – Donovan has started to get itchy feet. While & Juliet has locked her into Melbourne until mid-May at least, she’s keen to see what else the world has to offer.
“I’d love to disappear from Australia and go overseas and try my luck, whether that be on a musical theatre stage or just schlepping about with my guitar doing open-mic nights,” she says.
That might mean America, but it could be anywhere. And Donovan’s open to traditional theatre, too – anything that could pose a new challenge. “I love Australia and I love that this is my home, but I’d just love to spread my wings. Wherever the wind takes me, I’ll happily go.”
Stylist, Jolyon Mason; Hair, Renya Xydis using Wella and Dyson; Make-up, Sarah Tammer using Charlotte Tilbury at Mecca Cosmetica.
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