Marcia Hines has the kind of showbiz history most performers could only dream about.
With 14 successful albums, critically-acclaimed lead roles in musicals ‘Hair’ and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, and beloved tenures on ‘Countdown’ and ‘Australian Idol’, Marcia remains modest, insisting that she is “just one of the performers”.
Indeed, when she performs in critically-acclaimed cabaret show ‘Velvet’ at Adelaide Fringe and Queensland Performing Arts Centre, she will be. The hybrid burlesque/ circus/ cabaret is a new direction for the veteran singer, but she was instantly attracted when the show gave her, and her audience, the ability to “relive the wonderful memories that those songs provided,” she says.
“I think that more than any of us realise, disco is the soundtrack to our lives. Whether you're in your teens or your 70s. If you're in your teens, either your parents played that kind of music so much it drove you crazy, or you saw it in movies. Or you grew up with it, you actually lived it, and I lived it. It was a really fun time.”
© Tony VirgoMarcia instantly connected with her directors and fellow performers. “My co-star Brendan Maclean, he's more of an indie performer. I met him for the first time in rehearsal. Our Musical Director is Joe Accaria, he’s quite famous in his own right as well from working with Human Nature and Smoke & Mirrors. I met Brendan at Joe's studio, we sat and talked and sang, our voices blended beautifully. We love each other, you see that on stage.”
All the hits Marcia will be belting out were chosen specifically for her. “I’m not really good at singing things I don't like. All the songs that have been chosen I like. The show was written from the ground up. That was one of the really attractive things about it, we all watched it grow, it was an idea, we watched our directors make it the show that it is. We worked really hard on it.”
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Though no stranger to showbiz, Marcia was surprised by how different the experience of working on 'Velvet' is to previous musicals she’s starred in. “When I was introduced to 'Velvet', there was a different vibe to the one that I've usually known, because people who are circus performers take great care of one another. They have to. I experienced a new type of camaraderie by doing the show. You get to know yourself, you learn to share, and you learn to cover your other performer's backs. We do take good care of each other, we kind of hang out together. You're never too old to learn. I learnt a lot by watching them, and hanging with them. I think, and hope that I will continually learn about the work that I do.”
© Tony VirgoMarcia says she’s learned a lot in the course of her career. “I'm a great believer in consistency in performance. And if somebody believes in you to pay for your work, then you have to bring your A-game to the table every time you walk on stage. And that comes from having the same manager basically my whole career, he's very heavily involved in the business of the show. It’s important to have a good work ethic, to stay open, learn and continue to enjoy what you do.”
So what’s next? “I would like to continue performing, you know. Where do I see myself going? That's not really my job, that's my manager's job. I see myself continuing to learn, and continually try to get better. You're never so good that you can't get any better.”
'Velvet' performs The Garden of Unearthly Delights from 12 February-13 March and Queensland Performing Arts Centre from 20 April - 8 May.
