When Courtney Monsma was eight, her parents took her to see a production of Annie in which her sister Emily, then 10, played the title role. It was a light-bulb moment.

“I remember sitting there and hearing the overture . . . and I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’ And I have kind of been doing it since, which is crazy,” she says.

Courtney Monsma leans up against the railing of a staircase, her sister Emily sitting on the stairs below.

Courtney and Emily Monsma. Photo © David Hooley

After playing Princess Anna in the recent Australian tour of Disney’s Frozen, and Katherine Howard in SIX the Musical, Courtney is currently starring as Glinda in Stephen Schwartz’s mega-hit musical Wicked. In a lovely turn of events, Emily – who has previously played the role in a production on the Gold Coast – is in the ensemble and is understudying Glinda.

“I think it’s the first time in the world that two sisters will have played the role, which is really cool,” says Courtney.

Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz and tells the story of the unlikely friendship...