After decades as a seasoned entertainer Marcia admits, “I still get nervous at whatever I do. Really, you’re only as good as your last gig.”
This year the Parkes Elvis Festival will be inducting Australian music royalty, Marcia Hines AM, into the Parkes Elvis Festival Wall of Fame. Marcia Hines has an impressive career spanning five decades in the entertainment industry that continues going strong.
Marcia was born in Boston, Massachusetts and came to Australia at 16 after successfully auditioning for the stage musical Hair. She said “My mother allowed me to be a musician, so when the auditions came up in Boston, I heard about it through a friend of mine who was actually a Shakespearean actor and he went and said to my mum, he had auditioned for a part in Hair and they said look your good, but in actual fact your too good, do you know any kids around Boston who are kind of like rough diamonds? And he said yeah, I know just the girl,” and the rest is now history.
Marcia was then cast again by Harry M Miller, but this time in Jesus Christ Superstar as Mary Magdalene, and by then she had already captured the hearts of Australia.
It was no surprise when Marcia was voted Queen of Pop three years in a row from 76-78. “When I won Queen of Pop, I wasn’t a citizen, I was just a permanent resident, and when I won Queen of Pop I thought, Oh, I think this country loves me as much as I love it,” said Marcia.
We asked Marcia about Elvis and she said, “Elvis was my everything, I mean how could he not be? When I grew up I was born in the 50’s and Elvis kind of took over in the 60’s and I remember Elvis vividly.”
Marcia Hines AM, will be inducted into the Parkes Elvis Festival Wall of Fame on Wednesday, 7 January at 10am at the Parkes Visitor Information Centre.