Marina Prior

Marina Prior
Marina Prior on New Year's Eve 2008 in Melbourne
Born	18 October 1963 (1963-10-18) (age 48) Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Occupation	Opera Singer, Actor, TV Judge, Restaurateur
Spouse	Peter Lowrey
Children	Olivia, Campbell, Jacob
Website
http://www.marinaprior.com

Marina Prior (often misspelt 'Pryor') (born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on October 18, 1963(1963-10-18)) is an Australian singer and actress.

Early life

When she was a young child her parents returned to Australia and she grew up in Melbourne, attending Syndal South Primary School and Korowa Anglican Girls' School. She began to take singing lessons at the age of twelve and also learnt piano, flute and guitar.

While studying for a Bachelor of Music at Melbourne State College (which later became a faculty of the University of Melbourne) in 1983, she auditioned for the Victoria State Opera production of The Pirates of Penzance, and was cast as "Mabel", launching her career in musical theatre.

Theatre career

The following year saw Prior as "Guinevere" in the Australian production of Camelot with Richard Harris. In 1985, she performed the dual roles of "Jellylorum" and "Griddlebone" in the Australian premiere production of Cats. In 1987, she appeared as "Josephine" opposite Paul Eddington in Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, as "Kathy" in The Student Prince at the Lyric Opera in Brisbane and as "Hope Harcourt" in Anything Goes. This was followed by "Cosette" the Australian premiere production of Les Misérables in Melbourne and later, Sydney.

From 1990 to 1993, she starred as the original "Christine Daaé" in the Australian premiere of The Phantom of the Opera, opposite Anthony Warlow and later Rob Guest. This was followed by roles in many major productions, including "Maria" in West Side Story, "Lily" in The Secret Garden (1995), "Magnolia" in Show Boat (1998) and the title role in The Merry Widow (1999).^[1]

Other appearances include "Miss Adelaide" in Guys and Dolls (2000); the title role in Annie Get Your Gun (2004), both in staged concert versions with The Production Company;^[2] in 2003 in John Misto's play Harp on the Willow ("Mary O'Hara") at the Ensemble Theatre, Sydney;^[3] as "Jane Smart" in The Witches of Eastwick (2002);^[4] and as "Belinda Blair" in Noises Off (2003). Most recently, Prior performed in the Australian premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with the Melbourne Theatre Company and later with the Sydney Theatre Company.^[5] She appeared as "Miss Adelaide" in Guys and Dolls at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne in March 2008^[6] and with the Melbourne Theatre Company in The Hypocrite in November 2008.^[7] She reprised her role in Guys and Dolls from March 2009 in Sydney.

Prior toured Australasia in 1994 with José Carreras. She has performed concerts with many Australian symphony orchestras. She is a regular performer at Melbourne’s Carols by Candlelight and regularly appears at Opera in the Alps with David Hobson. She also appeared with Hobson at "Opera by the Lock" in Mildura, Victoria, in 2008.^[8] In 2011, Prior appeared as Mrs Banks in the Australian production of the musical Mary Poppins.

Television, recording, awards

Prior has been a judge on both the 2006 and 2007 Seven Network reality television series It Takes Two.^[9]

She has released three albums, Leading Lady (1991), Aspects of Andrew Lloyd Webber (1992) and Somewhere – The Songs of Sondheim and Bernstein (1994) and was inducted into Australia's 100 Entertainers of the Century.^[10]

Prior has received numerous awards; these include two Mo Awards (1991, 1995),^[11][12] two Green Room Awards (1989 and 1990) and in 1993 the Advance Australia Award for her contribution to the performing arts.

Other

Prior was appointed 1996 Queen of Moomba by the Melbourne festival's committee.^[13]

Marina Prior has been the Goodwill Ambassador for Samaritan's Purse Australia since 2005. In this capacity she has visited several development projects in Asia, including schools, water projects and distribution of Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.^[14] In 2009 she featured in "A Short Film About Shoe Boxes" to promote Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child.^[15]

Marina Prior is married to Peter Lowrey; they have three children: Olivia, Campbell and Jacob.

References

1. ^ "There's life in the old widow yet" by Frank Van Straten, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 May 2003
2. ^ Annie Get Your Gun (2004)
3. ^ Harp on the Willow
4. ^ Devilishly hard to get just right
5. ^ Sydney Theatre Company
6. ^ Westwood, Matthew (11 September 2007). "Musical is no gamble after dicing with dunnies". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22397421-5006785,00.html. Retrieved 11 September 2007. "They will join … Marina Prior as Miss Adelaide." 
7. ^ The Hypocrite – Cast, Melbourne Theatre Company; retrieved 1 November 2008
8. ^ Opera by the Lock
9. ^ Judge on It Takes Two
10. ^ Variety Victoria
11. ^ Mo Awards 1991
12. ^ Mo Awards 1995
13. ^ "Moomba: A festival for the people" by Craig Bellamy, Gordon Chisholm, Hilary Eriksen, pp. 17–22^{[dead link]}
14. ^ Marina Prior biography at Samaritan's Purse
15. ^ A short film about shoe boxes – Operation Christmas Child 2009 on YouTube

• "Don't call me nice" by Lily Bragge, The Age, 18 August 2002 (profile and interview)
• "Harp on the Willow" by Stephen Dunne, The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 October 2003
• "Kiss me, Kate" by Jim Murphy, The Age, 22 July 2005
• "An absolute farce" by Robin Usher, The Age, 16 June 2003

External links

• Biography and roles
• Biography