Marina’s Evolution

Marina Prior spoke to Neil Litchfield during rehearsals for the current Australian tour of The Sound of Music.

I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy Marina Prior’s musical theatre career through romantic leading lady roles - Mabel, Josephine, Cosette, Hope Harcourt, Christine Daaé, Magnolia and Guinevere - transitioning into more mature comedic roles like Miss Adelaide and motherhood as Mrs Banks.

Marina’s career began in spectacular fashion in 1983, when the 19 year-old music and drama student at Melbourne State College went overnight from busking in Melbourne’s Bourke Street Mall to leading lady in the Australian production of the new Broadway version of The Pirates of Penzance.

Now we’re sitting opposite each other in the rehearsal studio, on the terrace furniture from the Von Trapp mansion, as she prepares to play the sophisticated mature glamour role of the Baroness, Maria’s competition in the romantic stakes, in The Sound of Music.

“I am extremely grateful for the fact that I’ve been doing this for over thirty years now,” Marina tells me.

“No!” I utter.

“I know, extraordinary isn’t it. It’s hugely important for young romantic heroine soprano leading ladies to know how important it is to be able to evolve and re-invent yourself, and broaden your skill bases as you mature in the industry, if you want to keep going,” Marina explains. “So something that’s been really important to me has been working on my acting and characterization, and using different colours in my voice. That’s stood me in good stead.

“The production prior to this one for me this year has been a comedy play at Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company, which had no singing at all.

“In some ways what I’m most proud of is my longevity. I don’t mean that in an arrogant way, I’m just solidly proud that I’ve had longevity in the industry, but also diversity to be able to do straight plays. I think if you love what you do as much as I do, you have to be able to make pragmatic decisions, and understand if you want to be the romantic lead, you really only have fifteen years to do that, then if you want to keep going you really have to broaden – become a broad.”

As Marina did in Guys and Dolls. While she later repeated the role of Miss Adelaide in a 2008 / 9 commercial production, Marina’s first opportunity to play that archetypal ‘broad’ came in a short season at The Production Company in the year 2000.

“I was asked to play the role of Sarah Brown, the romantic, good girl, which is a great role, but I actually asked if I could audition for Miss Adelaide in that production. Roger Hodgeman, who has been a great champion of mine, and a big influence on my career choices, allowed me to audition – I had to audition because they were a little skeptical. He said to me, ‘you’ve got that ability, mine it.’

“It was a bit of the talk of the industry. There was no Facebook then, or there probably would have been a bit of chat on Facebook. I was told I was committing career suicide at one stage, but it had the opposite effect.

“I knew within myself that I had a comedic flair and an enjoyment of characterization, as did people who knew me intimately, so it really was the turning point, publicly. Then I also did Annie Get Your Gun, with Roger Hodgeman, and my role in The Witches of Eastwick was also a really vampy, comedic type of role.

“Since then I’ve predominantly done comedic roles, but funnily enough, every time I do them the press, or people generally, say ‘this is such a change for you’ and I think they’ll say it forever, because probably there’s just an indelible imprint of the girl from Phantom and the lady who sings at Carols by Candlelight in the big frock. But that’s a persona that you assume for Carols by Candlelight, not that it’s not me, but there’s a certain style I tend to call upon. I think people tend to assume, ‘Oh, that’s her, that’s who she is,’ but none of those people are me.”

“And, happily, vocally that’s something you can keep on doing for quite some time,” I suggest.

“I’ve been lucky,” Marina replies. “I have a wonderful singing teacher, Merlyn Quaife, who has taught me since I was 14. I still go to her, not regularly, but whenever I can for what we call a tune-up. She’s given me a technique that’s enabled me, vocally, to get through eight shows a week for three decades, so I’m very grateful to her. I’ve been able to use different facets of my voice, and not damage it.”

“So what is it about comedy that you love?” I ask.

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” Marina tells me. “It’s all about who you’re working with, and if you’re working with a good comedian. I’ve had the good fortune to work with the likes of Gary McDonald, Grant Piro, who I ended up marrying, Magda Szubanski, and David James, who’s my partner in crime in this, playing Max. The joy of collaborating with another actor and finding the rhythm, and mining the laugh is just such a rush – such a thrill when you get the laugh – not that this role is hilarious, but she certainly has a joie de vivre, a wry wit, and she’s quite delicious to play.”

“And I guess you get more of those rush moments in a passage of comic dialogue than you get with that one big climax moment in a great musical theatre song,” I suggest.

“Yeah, Yeah … rolling laughs. But I’ll never, ever fall out of love with singing, until my voice leaves me, which I hope it won’t for a long time,” Marina assures me.

“I’m releasing an album with Sony. I’m actually recording it next month. So this year I’m still releasing an album, still touring, still singing. In fact I love what the Baroness gets to sing in The Sound of Music, because neither of her two songs were in the movie. Perhaps that was to play up and enhance Julie Andrews in the film, not that Julie Andrews needs any enhancing in any way, but the Baroness was quite a small part. I like her in the play because she’s actually wittier, and there’s a viable relationship between her and the captain. She’s not a dreadful woman, she doesn’t hate children, she can just actually see that he’s in love with someone else. C’est La Vie!”

“And how are you enjoying playing the role of Elsa?” I ask.

“I’m loving it. I love her sophistication, and as you say, it’s been an evolution. I’ve gone from playing gawky girls, to romantic heroines, to a gothic heroine in Phantom, then developing a motherly role as Mrs Banks in Mary Poppins, to a burlesque dancing cougar – a man-eater – in Jumpy, and now I get to play this woman who is sophisticated, hedonistic, great fun, pragmatic, and she’s wise and gracious. I’d like to be her friend.

“And glamorous,” I add.

“Extra glamorous,” Marina agrees. “She’s the only one in this show who isn’t wearing a wimple or a dirndl, so I’m very grateful for that.”

Images: Cameron Daddo and Marina Prior in The Sound of Music (photographer, James Morgan) and Marina Prior (photographer, Brian Geach). 

Originally published in the January / February edition of Stage Whispers.

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