Exclusive: How THE MASKED SINGER Helped Coral Gain Confidence as a Performer

[Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Masked Singer Season 13 Finale]

Last night aired the season finale of The Masked Singer, unveiling the four celebrity finalists behind the eclectic characters of Season 13. Among them was Coral, who, following a performance of "Moon River," was revealed to be none other than actor and singer Meg Donnelly.

A self-proclaimed "musical theatre kid," Donnelly appears in Disney's Zombies franchise as Addison, opposite Milo Manheim, who plays the zombie character of Zed. She has also starred in the third season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and the Supernatural spin-off The Winchesters.

Needless to say, Donnelly is not new to the world of performance. In addition to her many acting roles, she has also recorded original music and just released a new single, officially launching the rollout of her new EP, "dying art."

BroadwayWorld caught up with Donnelly to reflect on her experience on the competition series, how she chose her setlist across the season, and why performing behind a mask helped her gain confidence as a performer. 

This interview has been condensed for clarity and length.

First off, congratulations on making it to the finale! What does that accomplishment mean to you artistically?

It means a lot. I think one of the reasons why I said yes to the show was to be able to perform live and kind of do it through trial and error while nobody knows who I am. It was really cool to make it to the finale because I feel insecure about my voice and performing, and I think it instilled a lot of confidence in me. I had no idea that I was even going to make it that far; I just wanted to go and have fun. So it was really shocking.

On the show, you mentioned wanting to grow as a performer through this process. What aspects of the competition pushed your performance skills in new directions?

With the elimination at the end, having that fuel and adrenaline the whole time and being able to perform through that was challenging, and I think helped me. And then also performing with the whole costume and the mask. You're not able to see really everything that's in front of you. Having the big Coral piece on my back and these big heels, I was like, 'If I can perform with this, then I can definitely do it when it's just me on stage!" 

The show is so theatrical. What did you discover about your own ability to tell a story through voice and movement while hidden behind a mask? Was it freeing to have that, or was that difficult?

It was so freeing. My background is in theater, and I'm a huge musical theater kid. Performing "Moon River" in the finale, even though I was wearing the whole costume, it felt like I was telling a story. The set design really helped, too. Coming out of the fishbowl felt like gaining my confidence to go out into the real world and be able to tell a story. And deciding where to add some rasp or a breath to make it more emotional was really cool to figure out, especially during dress rehearsals, where I could see what resonated the most and how it's sounding. 

For the finale, you sang "Moon River." What made you choose that song, and how did you decide your setlist across the season?

With Moon River, I wanted to do a really simple, pretty song. If I had made it one rung further, I would've done a more upbeat song to have both. But I wanted to make sure that no matter what, I did "Moon River," because it's so special to me. And throughout the entire season, I wanted to have simple songs like "What Was I Made For?" because they are so emotional and pretty.

Usually, the costumes are really restricting, but I felt like my costume was more mobile than usual, and I could move around a lot. A lot of the songs were upbeat to help the movement and allow me to walk around the stage to add some variety to the show. I loved doing those songs, they were so fun.

Now that you've been through the whole process, what’s something that viewers might not realize about what it's like behind the scenes of The Masked Singer?

I didn't realize how by yourself you always are. Because no one can know who you are, you're always in a big sweatshirt with gloves and a big visor. Every time you go outside of your trailer or outside of your dressing room next to the stage, you have to be in there alone because, as soon as you come out, you have to wear the visor. It was weird for a while because walking around, I was like, "Nobody here actually knows who I am. That's so crazy."

Your team will often pop in and say hi, but a lot of the time, you're just sitting in different areas by yourself. And there's so much rehearsal and so many fittings, especially when you're running through your song. You're there all day for the rehearsal and it's a lot of sitting and waiting to go out.

You also do a sound check in the backstage area with the mask on. Even if you don't have the full costume on, you sing through the entire song for microphone stuff. Everyone is in the same quarters, so you can hear everybody around you! It was so cool to hear everybody sing. The whole time, I was trying to guess everybody, but no one would confirm. So I had no idea. I was just guessing into the abyss. But I was really into it, and it was so much fun to also play along as an audience member.

Photo credit: FOX Entertainment

Listen to Donnelly's newly released single below ahead of her new EP "dying art," out on June 20.