Interview: Joel Montague, Hamilton

Currently delivering a joyous performance in the West End production of Hamilton week after week as King George is Joel Montague. Not a stranger to the UK theatre scene, he’s worked on exceptional shows like Just For One Day, Waitress and the UK tour of Chicago. Joel speaks with Theatre and Tonic to chat about his reflection on recently becoming a father, how he brings his own unique spin to King George’s witty character, and so much more! 

Congratulations on recently becoming a dad! How has that had an impact on your perspective of the industry and your job? We often hear about the women going back to work in the theatre, but what is it like as a father?

Funnily enough, I was speaking on social media about this recently. It's really tough because I've gone through a massive amount of dad guilt. I should call it parent guilt really because not everyone is a dad. There's a lot of mums as well. But just this parental guilt, where you're feeling like you're leaving your partner to deal with your child on their own, and you don't feel like you're helping. I mean, you are contributing. Of course you are, because you contribute, whether you're at the house or away from the house because if you're working, you're earning money, and if you're at the house, you're obviously doing the chores, looking after the children and things like that.

I find it extremely difficult because I think at first you feel like when you're having a child, especially in the entertainment industry, it's quite a selfish industry. you think very much about yourself. Things evolve around yourself. You have to, you kind of have to promote yourself and protect yourself so therefore you don't really a team until you're in a show. Do you know what I mean? So that mental shift I thought was going to be hard, but wasn't so difficult, it was the guilt of leaving them that I have found the hardest.

Luckily my wife Carrie is now sort of dripping her toe back into work now, so I get my time with Mabel on my own now which is amazing, but also hard.

Has it changed what you’d like to do in the future? You know, after Hamilton?

I think it’s interesting because my perspective has changed in the sense that I need to provide for my family but personally, it never has. Like I’m always going to be ambitious and I’m always going to want to push myself and I like breaking boundaries. I like doing roles that people don’t expect me to do. I hope that I can continue in my career but of course, my family comes first.

So let’s talk about Hamilton. What was your first introduction to the musical and what was it about the show that piqued your interest to want to work on it?

I was doing Funny Girl at the Menier Chocolate Factory. We had an amazing director called Michael Mayer, a Tony Award winning director who is still a really good friend of mine. He’s worked on the original production of Spring Awakening and Thoroughly Modern Millie. At the time there were so many talks of Hamilton but I didn’t know what it was until I went out to New York to see Michael and and Lynne Page, who was the choreographer. The buzz was all about Hamilton but I couldn’t get a ticket. But then I listened to the soundtrack and I became obsessed.

Luckily a year later, I got to see it in New York. It was an amazing show and the entire creative team created a masterpiece.

What do you think it is about Hamilton which has appealed to London audiences, especially when it is an American story?

I think when something is so well written like Les Mis, Wicked and Phantom- there’s something special about them, even if they’re not your favourite show. There is something magical about them and there’s a reason why they stand the test of time. Every 10 to 15 years you get one massive show that sticks around and I think Hamilton is just that. It’s so clever.

It broke moulds with the casting, speaking about the America of yesteryear but being performed by the America of today. It’s so diverse and rightly so and it brings amazing culture in its music, it goes through so many ranges and genres. People naturally think that Hamilton is just purely a rap show, but it’s so much more than that. There’s musical theatre, contemporary pop and different styles of rap. It’s a huge honour to be a part of it.

You play the role of King George who brings a comedic aspect to the story. How do you balance that with the historical seriousness of the role as well?

I think it’s really interesting. If you ask all of the people who have played King George, they give you a different. I’m fortunate to know the boys who played it before me, Mike, John, Harry and Gavin as well as Daniel on the tour. I’m sure they’ll all have a different answer for you.

For me, I very much look at the vehicle of what he is in the show. He’s there to create tension between England and America, but he’s also there for the comedy relief of the show. I think trying to marry both is so important, trying to get that edge of him that is funny, yet a little bit crazy. But I honestly believe he’s probably the best comedy character apart from the Mormons in The Book of Mormon.

How have you added your personal touches then? Especially when you know who’s done it before..

You dig into what you naturally feel comfortable with as an actor. What actions or intentions to say certain lines might not work for you the same way it does for me and vice versa. Everyone has a different style of comedy that they can play and I’ve been fortunate to play quite a few comedy roles in my comedy so far. I’ve taken what I’ve learned, not just from myself but from watching others as well.

It’s finding those little moments. You take a bit of everyone, but sometimes I don’t. I don’t necessarily go into a role going I’ll use what Mike did or what Daniel. If it’s there and I sort of use it subconsciously, I just do it. You have to be able to go to the drawing board and go what does and how do I connect with King George? It was the quickest way to find him for me. Obviously, I’m not a king but there are things about his sarcasm and his wit, which align with me. I use that element of him. I make him quite playful, quite childlike, I throw his toys out of the pram and I enjoy that about him. 

King George has quite a small role in Hamilton. How do you make the most of those moments when you are on stage and how do you retain your role?

I was talking to Jay Perry about this, he recently was in Back to the Future and now is our Aaron Burr. He said the role he played in that show was quite similar to the King’s role in the sense of how sporadic you are on and off stage. I don’t know what it is, but as I’m going through my career people keep casting me in roles to be more off stage than on stage. I don't know if they're trying to tell me something like underlining, like, I had Ogie in waitress, then Amos in Chicago, and now I've got the King. And they're just like, bit by bit. They're just like, can you just do less and move you further off stage?

You just have to keep yourself occupied. I definitely make sure I socialise a lot during the show with the company. I’m always chatting with people because it is a lonely track, it can be a lonely show. Some people love that and on occasion, it’s great when you’re having a bad day. You can take yourself out of it. Mentally it can be hard.

I’ve been very lucky that this is my third year in Hamilton. It can be mentally quite tough to just be like, you're on, you're off, and you are then off for like 35 minutes, then you're on for five minutes, and then you're off for like 40 minutes, you know, to try and regain that sort of where I've left off. You are still on that train of the show, you bring continuity to it no matter how big or small your role is.

As you mentioned you are in your third year of Hamilton. Do you have any favourite memories?

I have a couple.

One of my favourite nights was the Liz Truss night because I had a reaction when I came on for the third time. I say a line that goes “Are they going to keep on replacing whoever’s in charge?” It was the night that she had resigned from being the Prime Minister and it got the biggest laugh ever.

There’s been the night that of King Charles’ coronation, that was a pretty unique night. But also the flip side to that, the strangest night was when Queen Elizabeth died. It felt eerie, and it felt strange. It was one of the only nights I really remember coming out, and there was no reaction.

The musical’s modern approach to history is a big part of its success. If you could pick another historical figure, let’s say the Royal Family. Who do you think would be interesting to take on in a musical?

Prince Andrew. It would be good to go back to I guess someone like William the Conqueror. We’ve done the Tudors with Six. I guess anything that’s a hit is wherever a scandal is. The gift we have now is social media, TV and all of this information we’ve never had before.

It’s really interesting to say about historical musicals, because even with Bridgeton, its taking people back to history. I’ve heard of a few things that are up and coming but I think Hamilton and Six have ticked the box very much.

You also performed in the Old Vic production of Just For One Day which recently announced a West End transfer. Are you excited by its return and if you could, would you return?

I don’t know if I would return. It was a very interesting experience for all of us, a very experience, but an interesting one. The subject matter was so crucial to get right. Effectively, Just For One Day tells the story of how Live Aid happened for the people who saw and loved the music. One great thing that Luke, the team and all of us did achieve was that it it was going to make you think about doing something more yourself, then we’ve won. It was an honour to play the role of Harvey Goldsmith, I had the opportunity to meet him and it was scary because I’ve never played a person that’s real. Myself and Craig (who plays Bob) were with the show from the workshops so it’ll be good to see who does it next.

Finally, why should people see Hamilton?

I say you should see Hamilton in the same way that you should see Les Mis, Wicked and Phantom because there’s a reason that those shows have and will stay for a long time. I always think if you’re a fan of theatre, if you’re a fan of musical theatre in particular, you should never turn around and be like ‘Well I’m never going to see that because I’ve heard one song and I don’t like it’ because that’s not what it is necessarily about.

It’s not purely about the music. It’s about the storytelling. I think Hamilton is a masterclass in how to tell the story through music and how it can bring in a whole new generation of people. I see 13/14-year-old kids in the audience mouthing every single word. They watch it all the time on Disney+ and know all of the words.

Catch Joel Montague in Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Currently booking until 29 March 2025.