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She sounds as Aussie as the Irwins, but Brisbane-based singer-actor Ana Marina - who lived in Auckland until she was 13 - reckons she's more of a Kiwi-Aussie hybrid.
"Whenever I'm in New Zealand my tongue keeps slipping back into the Kiwi accent - I can just
feel it happening now," she laughs. But when she sings it's not her accent you hear - it's that soaring, silvery soprano voice, which will rise to the Civic's domed ceiling during the forthcoming Auckland season of the world's most popular musical, The Phantom of the Opera.
Since it opened in London in 1986, 80 million people in 25 countries have seen the gothic musical.
Following a sell-out tour of Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, the show's Auckland incarnation is the same production that's been touring internationally since 2004.
Marina plays the beautiful young soprano Christine Daae. With her glowing green eyes, wide smile, delicately arched eyebrows and slightly exotic features, she certainly looks the part.
The well-known story follows disfigured musical genius the Phantom, who haunts the dark shadows of the Paris Opera House in the 1860s. Luring Christine as his young protegee, he falls madly in love with her, but then turns mad with jealousy when he discovers she is in love with another, Raoul. Cue a series of wild demands, freak accidents and a climactic finale.
A feast for the senses, the theatrical spectacular features 230 costumes, a highly emotive musical score featuring some of Andrew Lloyd Webber's most famous music, and uses 250kg of dry ice and 10 fog and smoke machines.
The pinnacle of the lavish set is the one-tonne replica of the Paris Opera House chandelier, made of 6000 beads and specially engineered to avoid any damage when it comes crashing on to the stage during the show. After playing Christine more than 100 times, Marina is more enamoured of The Phantom than ever.
"It's not a jukebox musical like Mamma Mia. It's got everything: beautiful costumes, sets and music, and it's especially written to create drama for the characters. Every time I play Christine I feel I connect with the role deeper and deeper. She's almost at one with me - a part of me."
Indeed there are a couple of striking similarities between Marina and her fictional counterpart.
"I was also plucked from the chorus," smiles Marina, who was chosen to understudy the role then take the stage on London's West End.
Also like Christine, Marina fell in love onstage; meeting partner Richard, who played percussion in the orchestra, during the Seoul season of the world tour of Phantom three years ago.
During that world tour, Marina shared the part with another singer, performing on alternate nights.
Subsequently nominated for her performance in Australia's prestigious performing arts awards, the Green Room Awards and the Helpmann Awards, it's little wonder that Marina got the part of Christine to herself for the Australian and Auckland seasons.
Marina particularly relishes playing a shrinking violet who gradually sheds her confusion and fears.
"She starts out as a shy, lonely, lost, vulnerable girl and we see the journey of her growth into a gutsy woman. By the end of the show she's pretty strong and pretty dramatic - well, that's how I like to play her. It's a very demanding role physically, vocally and emotionally, but I think that's what makes it so rewarding and I love giving 100 per cent."
Marina's impressive CV spans numerous productions, including as Cosette for the 10th-anniversary production of Les Miserables. Marina has also performed concerts with everyone from theatre companies to orchestras, sung the national anthem at sports events, and sung live on TV shows and at awards ceremonies.
Yet this multi-talented maiden doesn't fit neatly into the "singer" pigeonhole.
She's a trained actor, make-up artist (she does her own make-up for the Christine role), and the latest string to her bow is ballet dancer. While most "Christines" don't dance en pointe, Marina devoted three months to intensive ballet lessons until she felt comfortable dancing on tiptoes.
"I learned it because I wanted to make my portrayal of the role as believable as possible. To me, Christine's a real person, she's a dancer so I want to feel and look like a dancer. I do what I can and hopefully I'm convincing."
Also convincing is her onscreen chemistry with the Phantom, Anthony Warlow, and her character's prima-donna rivalry with Carlotta, played by fellow New Zealander Andrea Creighton.
In fact, the season is quite a Kiwi affair, laughs Marina who, after a quick New Zealand holiday is amped to perform Christine in front of Auckland relatives and friends. "It's a dream come true."
As are her costumes. Getting more costume changes than Eva Longoria at the Emmys, Marina slips into nine dresses during the show. In dazzlingly bright colours with bejewelled bodices, tiers of ruffles, expansive skirts, puffed sleeves, lace linings and bows, each gown is as elaborate and elegant as the next.
When she was young, idolising the original Christine, Sarah Brightman, and listening to The Phantom on tape, Marina never imagined she'd one day be onstage singing them herself. But at the age of 8, after watching the movie version of Annie, she decided she wanted to be a singer.
"No one ever told me I couldn't do it, so I decided I could."
Five years of singing lessons later, her family moved from Te Atatu South to Brisbane, largely because they believed Australia then had more opportunity for singers.
After high school, Ana Marina studied voice at The Queensland Conservatorium of Music, graduating with a Diploma of Music. And what about that name, Ana Marina, which rolls off your tongue and just begs to be up in lights?
Well it's not quite her real name. Her first names are Marina Ana and she switched them around because of audience confusion between her and Marina Prior (Australia's original Christine who also played Les Miserables' Cosette and a number of other similar roles).
As much as she loves playing Christine, Marina is brimming with anticipation of future roles. "I'd love to play Maria in West Side Story, Eliza in My Fair Lady, and if they ever brought The Secret Garden back I'd love to play Lily. But apart from musical theatre roles, I'm also looking at getting into film and TV as well." Her next project is her first solo album.
Although the sky's the limit for this woman, there has been one blip in her ascent.
After understudying in London, she returned to Brisbane with a "very tired" voice and spent 18 months wondering if performance was really what she wanted to do with her life.
"Then, out of the blue I got a phone call from the producers of Phantom. It's nice to have them call you, because it doesn't usually happen, and of course I said yes."
And that sealed the decision that performing was for her.
"I just love it, there's absolutely nothing else like it and I know that's my purpose in life."
* The Phantom of the Opera is on at The Civic, Auckland, from Tuesday, for a limited season.
