Elise McCann on Matilda, Mamma Mia! and her mental illness app, Hey Lemonade

She’s played Miss Honey in Matilda The Musical, and now Donna in Mamma Mia! But when COVID shut down the industry, Elise McCann’s life took a totally different course.

Versatile: Elise McCann

You’re a Helpmann Award and Sydney Theatre Award winner, best known for playing Miss Honey in Matilda The Musical. But there was a time before your success when you had to choose between studying law or musical theatre. What was it like to make such a “risky” decision? When I finished high school, I thought I’d be a lawyer. I’d got into a Bachelor of Arts/Law but I loved the idea of staying in Sydney so I auditioned for NIDA [the National Institute of Dramatic Art] and got in. I remember thinking, “What do I do?” But my view has always been to throw myself into opportunities that come my way, and if you don’t like something, then at least you’ll know. I knew I could go back to law at any time.

You grew up singing, dancing and performing in school musicals. What’s it like to have something you love become your career? It’s a huge privilege, and really rare. But it’s like anything that you do day after day after day, it does start to get monotonous. So I try to seek growth in areas which keep me focused and grateful.

You did go back and study law at the University of NSW, while also performing. What was that like? Yes, by the time I went back to study I’d started performing in shows like Fiddler on the Roof. It was wonderful and stressful. The thing is, performing gives me so much joy. But doing the study also gave me something else to focus on because once you’ve learned the show and you’re doing it a lot, it starts to move into a different part of your brain.

Like many industries, musical theatre was hit hard during the Covid pandemic. How did that affect you and the industry? I’d been living in New York, working with Sarah Jessica Parker’s production company Pretty Matches, and I came home to perform the role of Mary Flynn in Merrily We Roll Along. I thought that maybe Australia would be fine. And when I got back, within two weeks Merrily We Roll Along was cancelled. Everything was getting cancelled, everything had stopped. At first I was grateful for a bit of stillness. But then, when I realised how long it was going on for, I thought, “Oh my gosh, what if I never get to perform again? What if I never get to do these things I love again?”

During this time you and one of your best friends, the actor and singer Lucy Durack, decided to launch a wellbeing app called Hey Lemonade. How did that come about? Lucy and I went for a socially distanced walk towards the end of 2020, start of 2021, and I remember we were both talking about how stressed we felt and all the challenges we were experiencing – and after that walk we both realised that what we needed to relieve those feelings was a quick chat with a friend, just to know we’re not alone. And then we started thinking that surely there is an app for this because you can’t always call your best friend at 3am. But we couldn’t find anything like that. So that’s how the idea for the app came about – it’s a chat with a friend to help you put things in perspective and help you keep going.

You’ve also been playing Donna in Mamma Mia! The Musical since May. How do you keep yourself from getting too exhausted? My body’s a bit tired, my voice gets tired and I get emotionally tired because the part goes through a big journey. But you get to finish the show on a massive high, so you can’t help but leave feeling energised.

Mamma Mia! The Musical is now playing in Melbourne