A career of high notes
Opera singer Helen Medlyn answers questions about her long and successful stage career and reveals how she got hooked on Harleys.
‘ My body ain’t pretty, but I love everything about it and am so grateful for what it does.’ HELEN MEDLYN
HAVING been in much-loved works such as Shadowlands, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, Cabaret, and High Society. Medlyn appears next in the musical adaptation of the Whoopi Goldberg movie Sister Act. The musical, Sister Act, at the ASB Waterfront Theatre from November 25 to December 16. I’m the Mother Superior in the story of Deloris van Cartier – played by the fabulous Keshia Tunks – a nightclub singer who turns a quiet convent into a musical and religious sensation. The script is wickedly funny, the music seriously ‘‘dance in your seat’’ stuff, and ‘‘my’’ nuns sing up a storm of biblical proportions. Riding my Harley through this amazingly beautiful country of ours. Back in 2007, my friends Terry [Divot] and Adrienne James invited me to a HOG meeting as their guest, and I was hooked. I bought my ‘‘big bad my career. I got the giggles something terrible, the audience was in hysterics, and Penny Dodd, my amazing pianist, had tears of laughter streaming down her face! Talk about a show-stopper! No, but I ‘‘borrowed’’ my Grandpa’s car whenMumand Dad were out one night. I was about 17 and didn’t have my licence, but had a devilish urge to go for a drive, so I did. I drove down our road, Parrs Cross Rd, and down Henderson Valley Rd for a mile or two, turned around and drove home. I felt like such a rebel! I don’t dislike anything. My body ain’t pretty, but I love everything about it and am so grateful for what it does. The lines from the song Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen come to mind: ‘‘Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own’’. Amen to that! I’d love to go back to New Zealand of the 60s, armed with the knowledge of how many good things we had then – like housing for all, plentiful teachers, liveable wages, drinkable rivers – are now at stake, and find a way of getting that generation-ago ‘‘us’’ to be more vigilant in our social and environmental guardianship of this land and its people. I don’t have children, but if I did, I’d love to pass on the importance of helping our planet from being damaged any further. There is no Planet B. I’ve always loved natural healing, so I’d love to learn kinesiology and help people to wellness. To speak fluent te reo Ma¯ori. To buy a motorhome (big enough to fit my Harley inside) and go around New Zealand teaching my performance masterclass, The Devil’s In The Details, passing on the skills I’ve learnt in my 50-yearlong ‘‘life upon the wicked stage’’ to other performers, young and old. To be in the best of health until my last breath. – Mike Alexander