Much-loved Australian singer and entertainer Marcia Hines says she is looking forward to kicking off her extensive Still
Shining tour in WA next month.
“Why WA, why wouldn’t I? I think it’s a great place to start the tour, WA has always been really, really good to me and I’ve always had a great audience,” Marcia tells Have a Go News from Sydney where she has just emerged from a coffee shop after finishing a kick boxing class.
Marcia’s Still Shining tour of 32 shows starts in Mandurah, then heads to Bunbury and Crown Perth before going to the eastern states, finishing in Geelong in November.
It’s a busy schedule but the almost 71-year-old says the concerts range over three or four days each week.
“That’s very doable compared to the old days when we lived on the road,” she laughs.
Marcia says she decided on the Still Shining tour: “because I’ve had an incredible career and I think that it’s really important I be seen again as a woman in my 70s who’s still performing like women such as the late Tina Turner and Cher.
“Nobody tells women that the older we get the better we become. And you get better, you know what to wear, know what to say and not to say. It’s great that I still have this passion to perform.
“This is my gift and I feel very blessed that I can still do it and adore it.”
A new album, The Gospel According to Marcia, celebrating Marcia’s musical roots and memories from her childhood in Boston and her early experiences with gospel music, was released last year.
Marcia spent her Sunday mornings accompanying her blind godmother, Florence James, to four churches in inner city Boston where Florence was the leader of four church choirs.
Most Australians remember Marcia as the pretty 16-year-old who moved from Boston to Sydney in 1970 to star in the Australian production of Hair and then became the first black woman to star in Jesus Christ Superstar.
She has been described as an inspiration to women and people everywhere, constantly reinventing herself and setting industry benchmarks.
Her 23 albums have sold more than three million copies, she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2007 and received the Order of Australia (AM) in 2009 for services to the Australian entertainment industry as a performer, judge, mentor and the extraordinary contribution she has made to the community through a range charitable organisations.
Still Shining is a celebration over two and half hours of Marcia’s amazing journey. From Fire and Rain to What I Did for Love to From
the Inside to elegant, up tempo standards such as You and Your Love Still Brings Me to My Knees, which was a top 10 hit in Australia and Europe.
“I’ve had the same manager, Peter Rix, for my whole career, he’s not really my manager but my brother so we can argue about what the show should be and bits and pieces.
“We had a big meeting recently to sort out and fine tune the show and make it better. As a performer you are truly a work in progress, you’re only as good as your last gig.”
Marcia says she is in the process of choosing her costumes for the shows.
“We’re working on that. I have an incredible lady, Leonie Grace, who has done all the costumes for the big musicals like Beauty
and the Beast and Kinky Boots.
“I am pretty in pink but I love blue hues so we’re trying to put something together.”
It’s been a busy year already for Marcia who has been touring with Grease the Musical, making a new friend of fellow performer Patti Newton.
“I knew Bert quite well because I worked with him quite a bit and we were pretty close. Then I met Patti this year and she’s one of the best people. We get into a lot of trouble backstage which is fun.”
The secret behind looking good and ageing well?
“I think I lucked out in the gene pool which is wonderful,” Marcia says. “I just finished a boxing class and I try and stay as fit as I can.
“I have to exercise vocally as well as physically and I try to walk as much as I can. I’m looking forward to trying Jacob’s Ladder in Perth.
“I’ll be dying, that’ll be me halfway up dying but I’ll try it. I don’t drink and have never been drunk. I’m a pescatarian which means I eat fish but not red meat or chicken but that’s just me.
“My heritage is Jamaican (both her parents were born there) and that was our diet in Jamaica so I’ve just sort of stuck to that.”
Marcia says that outside the theatre world she enjoys creating mosaics and drawing.
“I love smashing things up and putting them back together.”
Marcia Hines Still Shining opens at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre August 8, Bunbury Entertainment Centre August 9 and Crown Perth August 10. Bookings with Ticketmaster.
