4 STARS, August 16-27. In the Voice Behind The Stars, Australian actress and singer Eliza Jackson pays tribute to Marni Nixon, the unsung hero behind many of Hollywoods most iconic musicals
“The ghostess with the mostess” is how Marni Nixon, the voice behind many a Hollywood singing star, was once described. Many people won’s know her name as such but would immediately recognize her voice if they heard it. Blessed with ‘perfect pitch’, during the era of the big screen musical Margaret Nixon McEathron (as she was born) appeared, uncredited, in three Oscar-winning films: The King and I, My Fair Lady and West Side Story, voicing the lead for Deborah Kerr, Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood, respectively. She would also appear onscreen as a singing nun in The Sound Of Music.
Her career as the unsung voice of such stars is one that piques interest and something that Australian actress and singer Eliza Jackson does full credit to in her highly entertaining homage to Nixon. Seated onstage, sipping tea and rifling through old vinyl records Jackson (in character as Nixon) regales the audience with her life and career; a little more of the former would perhaps have been welcome although I appreciate time constraints necessitate certain omissions. A microphone and headphones on stage allow Jackson to perform extracts from some of Nixon’s best-known repertoire and this is perhaps where she’s strongest, beautifully recreating memorable moments from some of the biggest screen musicals.
Early in Nixon’s stellar career Deborah Kerr had inadvertently let slip that Nixon had appeared on The King and I’s soundtrack but Nixon was warned by producers never to advertise her contributions if she wished to keep working and received no credit for her work on this picture. Frustrated at such treatment she lobbied for better on West Side Story. Initially stonewalled Nixon was delighted when Leonard Bernstein generously donated a tiny percentage of his royalties to her and this decision would herald better terms for future ghost singers, their contributions finally receiving official acknowledgement.
For anyone interested in musicals per se and particularly the place of women in such an industry Jackson’s warm-hearted tribute, oozing snippets of showbiz gossip, offers a glimpse into an intriguing world.
Tickets: edfringe.com
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