Monty Hays, age 23, uses the pronouns they/them or he/him. I use he/him pronouns for this interview. He was born and raised in Minneapolis and currently lives in East Isles with his partner. His parents live in Northeast Minneapolis. He has two part-time jobs, hosting at a restaurant and working at a box office at a Northeast Minneapolis theater, in addition to taking classes toward his degree at Metro State University.
Monty is an actor and has performed at the Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) in “The Wizard of Oz,” “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Shrek the Musical.” He has also performed at Theater Latte Da, the Guthrie Theater and the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.
Monty is currently an ensemble external understudy at CTC in “The Wizard of Oz.” The show opens April 21, and runs through June 14. For more information, visit childrenstheatre.org.
Monty was interviewed on Zoom on March 20. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Are you comfortable talking about coming out of the closet?
Absolutely. I always had this inkling that whether it had been my name assigned at birth or any sort of outside gender stereotypes that were put on me, whether conscious or unconscious, it never felt right. It was hard for me to put it into words, and it was hard to get other people to understand. Some of the most open-minded, kind people even were perplexed: I don’t know, is this what you want to do? Are you sure?
I came out as bisexual when I was in sixth grade, so from a very young age I realized I am not the baseline, cisgender, heteronormative girl. I knew that’s not me. My senior year of high school was when I fully felt like I really grew into myself and understood and looked back on these small moments in my life that I realized I’m not a girl. That’s just not me.
I fully came out as trans and nonbinary, and I dropped my deadname and changed my name to Monty my senior year of high school. I am in the process of formally changing my name, and my parents will be my witnesses at my name change court hearing!
How did your family react?
It was a journey because it wasn’t as straightforward as the “yes, we love you, we accept you” or the “get out of my house, we don’t accept that.” There were some things they were more accepting of and other things that they couldn’t really wrap their heads around or fully understand.
When I came out as bisexual, they were very understanding, very accepting, but they said, if you have sleepovers with girls, you have to keep the door open, or when you hang out with girls, there was always a “we want to make sure no tomfoolery is happening.” I was like, yep, totally, I understand.
There was more pushback from my parents when I told them I don’t think I am a girl and that I don’t feel comfortable in my name and identity. They were not as well-versed with trans culture. They didn’t have a lot of trans friends, and while they have a lot of gay and lesbian friends, they just didn’t really understand.
It was also in the later Obama era where things were becoming more accepted, and my parents were sort of like, are you doing this because your friends are doing it, or do you feel this way? Eventually they came to understand that this is who I’ve always been, and they’ve noticed a distinct difference between who I was before and who I am now. And they are two of my biggest supporters now!
Has the Children’s Theatre Company been accepting?
100%. Yes! It’s interesting because you work with kids so much and it is catered toward kids. It’s a nuanced conversation that is very new to have with kids about identity and sexuality. You don’t want to get into the details, but representation matters. Seeing someone openly trans is important to show kids that it is an option.
How did you end up at the Children’s Theatre Company?
This is the fifth show I’ve done there, but I did most of my shows when I was ages 9 to 11. A lot of the staff knew me by my deadname and as a young person. This has been a fun experience because the first show I did there was “The Wizard of Oz.”
Can you explain what it means to be an “external ensemble understudy?”
Each ensemble member has their own scenes and path through the show. I understudy three of the ensemble roles, and another understudy covers three others. I’m not part of the show day-to-day, but if someone is out, I step in and fulfill their track, sometimes on short notice, the night before sometimes.
What do you do for fun, and what is in store for the future?
I love having people over and having dinner parties. I like live theater, concerts and dancing. I just love moving my body. And I love hanging out with my cats. I love live theater so much. It is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I also would like to graduate with my bachelor’s in technical communications and professional writing. And yes, I would love to just stay involved in the arts, whether that be writing for theaters or acting or playing music or dancing.
All I want is to live a long and creatively fulfilled life.
David Piper writes for the Hill & Lake Press. He lives in Kenwood.
