The Voice of Velvet

With Velvet, the extravaganza that is part circus, part disco, part burlesque, part musical and all eighties, opening this week at the Malthouse, Coral Drouyn managed to grab some time with the Incomparable Marcia Hines.

It’s only fitting that a show with the name Velvet should star someone whose voice and demeanour are Velvet in themselves. Marcia Hines has been the Queen of Pop, a Hitmaker recording artist, a Musical Theatre Star, an actress, a mentor, a talent judge, a tireless campaigner for controlling Diabetes, and an Icon. The eighties and nineties were her “Halcyon Days” when her singles were Top Ten and her albums were Gold (my personal favourite has always been ‘Shining’) and her lush velvet tones were heard everywhere.

“I think that’s part of what drew me to Velvet,” she tells me. “It’s set in a nightclub, and it features all the hits we used to dance to in that era. It’s part of my growing up, it’s music we all know and it’s one of those magical, entertaining show where there is so much rhythm and colour and movement, that it’s hard to stay still in your seat.”

There is a narrative to Velvet, which is based on the famous nightclub Studio 54, which sees a young ingénue jump the velvet red rope barrier and enter a world of sensory overload where he is transformed from a boy to a man. The show has been a great hit in England and at various Festivals. It has nostalgic value for those of us who lived through that era, and satisfies the curiosity of younger generations who have not experienced their own Boogie Wonderland.

So how does Marcia feel about being the matriarch in a much younger company? She laughs.

“Oh I know people think I must be 100 years old I have been around for so long.” She says (she’s actually in her early sixties), but, you know, I don’t believe anyone should stick labels on themselves, especially when it comes to age. I never have felt that way. If I did, I would never have had the courage to leave my home at 16 and travel to the other side of the world. I would have just labelled myself “too young” especially for a show like HAIR. I didn’t really know what it was all about. But I just thought – I can do this, I know I can- and I jumped with both feet.”

Marcia appeared in Hair, and then Jesus Christ Superstar as Mary Magdalene (does anyone NOT remember the goosebumps when she sang “I Don’t Know How To Love Him”) and the rest, as they say, is history. And in a year when music stars are dropping at an alarming rate – including the shock of losing Jon English, Marcia’s co-star in JC Superstar – she is still going strong and has no plans to stop working.

“Singing isn’t just what I do, it’s who I am. My proudest achievement is giving birth to a beautiful daughter, Deni – but singing isn’t really an achievement, it’s just a part of my being.”

So what does she think of today’s singers I ask?

“Oh, there are some fabulous voices, astonishing technicians with amazing ranges,” she tells me, “but, you know, and I’m not plugging my own records, but, for me “Something’s Missing in a lot of them. It has to be how you feel about the lyrics and the melodies, not just the technique.”

Her voice is so rich, so packed with emotion, that I ask her if she regrets not returning to the USA and trying her luck recording there. The stakes are higher, but so are the rewards. She’s a little indignant.

“Now Coral, how ungrateful would I be if I had done that? Australia embraced me, it gave me the breaks that people can only dream of. It accepted me as one of its own, and I truly AM Australian. I would feel like a foreigner if I ever tried to live in the states again, and what’s more, I never want to. My home is here.”

Make sure you see this remarkable lady in Velvet, which starts on March 23^rd. “It’s not a Marcia Hines concert but she’ll sing plenty of songs. As Marcia says “I just want to share the music with everyone.”

www.velvettheshow.com