As Marisha Wallace ushers me into her dressing room at London’s Bridge theatre, where she’s currently dazzling in Guys & Dolls, it feels like an old friend is pulling me into her bedroom for a gossip. Wallace’s dressing table overflows with makeup, cards and clutter. The American actor’s mirror is adorned with Polaroids, including one where she beams proudly while standing next to Hugh Jackman (just one of many celebrities to visit the show). Our conversation is punctuated with easy laughter, frequent offers of tea (“I’m very British now”) and an unusual level of openness.
Wallace is coming to the end of a near year-long run as the nightclub singer Adelaide, perpetually engaged to the hopelessly charming gambler Nathan Detroit (Daniel Mays). It has been a phenomenal run for the entire company, but it’s Wallace – in a role that is often merely comical but here becomes effortlessly soulful – who has emerged as the star. Along with her nuanced performance there’s her knockout singing voice: thunderously powerful but also shot through with a vulnerability that pulls the audience close. It’s a spectacular combination that has resulted (so far) in Evening Standard and WhatsOnStage award nominations, an appearance in the Stage’s Top 100 list, and an ongoing deluge of critical praise and public adoration.
