Skintight sequins, mirror balls and bass lines. The discos of old have always belonged to a time defined by style over substance, the kind of delirious breeziness that could both fire and cool any Saturday night fever.
When Marcia Hines and the cast of Velvet Rewired begin their seven-show run at the Civic Theatre on Wednesday, April 19, they will be striding out in celebration of that era and the music that came to define it.
Yet hidden beneath all of that, under all of the acrobatic escapism and platform-soled pageantry, Marcia Hines assures me that there are deeper meanings for the audience to reflect upon. Above all else, Velvet Rewired is a show about the search for an unbridled kind of joy. But long before they've encircled the disco inferno on their roller skates, there is often a darker place that some are desperate to leave behind.
"Whenever I go and see music played live, I am always going there to escape," Hines says.
"I love music. I listen to it and I make it," Hines says. "But, as a songwriter myself, I can say that you usually get the urge to write when something sad has happened. It applies to country and western singers as much as it applies to Phil Collins. The really good stuff is often break-up music."
MARCIA'S STORY
And long before Hines became such a successful and recognisable presence on Australian stages and screens, she became acquainted with some of those sadder times and darker places. Her first encounters with the nightlife of Sydney uncovered characters needing to escape and leave behind their infernal experiences.
"I first came to Australia in 1970," Hines says. "I always think of the disco era in terms of that time. The Vietnam War was still happening and I came across young soldiers who had been in the war and then, after some of the harrowing things that they had encountered, had come to Sydney for a bit of rest and relaxation.
"Once the war was all over, it was such a sad time for all of these guys. Then, all of a sudden, this thing happened where all of these really joyous songs started to appear out of nowhere. And the songs themselves were great. They were about living life. After such a tumultuous time, we all really needed that. We needed something joyous."
It's a word that, like the music of that time, Hines always seems to return to - joy.
For all of her thoughtful reflections, on the substance of disco hidden between the flashes of its style, Hines is the first to admit that this show is all about discovering your joyousness and sense of fun. If your happiness isn't there at the beginning of the night, then the disco will make sure that you find it in the end.
It's how Gloria Gaynor survived and the Bee Gees stayed alive.
"Rewired is a show about the will of the individual," Hines says.
"You have to explore who you are and not only that, you have to also accept who you are.
"Disco has always been about expression and finding an outlet for that expression.
"But it's also about having fun."
VELVET BACKGROUND
"The first show we all did, called Velvet, was a story about a straight-up-and-down guy who walked into a disco and saw people who were just amazingly expressive. Through the music that he encountered there, he kind of found himself in a way," Hines says.
"In Velvet Rewired, he comes back to the family after going through what all of us experience at some point in our lives. Heartbreak. And through the family, he manages to find himself again."
As much as this story follows a familiar and circular process, performing in this show has taken Hines on a similar path. It's reminded her of the music that helped launch her own storied career.
"At some stage of your life, disco music has touched you. It's music that has stuck with us for a very long time," Hines says.
"As a performer you must never forget where you're coming from. The songs that made you are usually those that you sang at the beginning of your career. Some of them stay and you attach yourself to them."
-
Velvet Rewired - Welcome to Boogie Wonderland! Civic Theatre, April 19 - 23
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Join the discussion in the comment section below.
Find out how to register or become a subscriber here.
