MARCIA HINES BRINGING DISCO BACK TO THEATRE!
The legendary singer’s’ latest venture – as a dragon in Shrek – is her most fiery to date!
Shrek The Musical looks like an absolute riot! What made you sign up to play a dragon?
When I got the call it seemed like a great idea, and I’m loving doing theatre again.
You’ve been doing quite a bit! But this will be quite different to the racier stage shows like
Saturday Night Fever and Velvet. How do you think you’ll go with a comedic, family-friendly show?
Well, I’m a fool, so I think I’ll go quite well [laughs]. You know that saying, “No fools, no fun”? So it’ll be fun to do.
I’m picturing you coming out in a massive, grand dragon costume – are you excited?
[Laughs] Well, no – I actually don’t come out, it’s all done by puppeteering. But it’s most definitely my voice, and then I come out in the end and sing with the rest of the cast for the encore. I’ve kind of got the best of both worlds but I still have to put some dragon makeup on, and I have to walk out on stage and give the “wow” factor, so I don’t get off totally free. The main cast have to do around three hours of prosthetics every single night and we’re doing nine shows a week!
How are you going to keep up the momentum?
Well, because the show is so fun it’s not going to feel like work. You know, it’s not like it’s a heavy murder mystery play. It’s going to make it an easy chore.
But it’s a very clever thing to be able to command a stage night after night and make it real, too.
You’re always working! What do you like to do in your downtime – when you get it?
Sleep! And just hang with friends, maybe catch up for dinner.
Are you interested in doing a new album?
Absolutely! The music industry has changed immensely, so we have to find a way to record something that will make some kind of splash.
Disco is making a bit of a comeback, isn’t it?
Did it ever go out, honey?
What about a Christmas album?
No, I don’t think so. What I’d like to do is a real spiritual album. I mean, a Christmas album would be nice, but I’d prefer to do an African-american spiritual thing.
It’s a time of the reboots right now. Do you see yourself coming back to TV?
If someone asked me to and if it was something I truly believed in, I’d say yes. Because it was a great platform for me – I really did enjoy Australian Idol.
Your daughter Deni blew audiences away on The
Masked Singer. Did she tell you she was on it?
No, absolutely not. She wasn’t allowed to!
What did you think of it when you found out?
I thought, she’s got a gig, good! She’s happy [laughs].
So we shouldn’t expect you on The Masked Singer stage in a dragon costume next year?
That’s a no! It’s not my thing. Let’s save the outlandish costumes for Shrek!
FROM JANUARY TICKETS shrekthemusical.com.au
‘The show is so fun it’s not going to feel like work’