24 hours with Marlain Aggelidou
Saturday night fever
Member of Hi-5 and former Cyprus Eurovision entrant, takes to the Athens stage
“I’ve only got 10 minutes,” she says with a cool English accent. I’ve just dialed Marlain Angelidou’s phone number and ten minutes is nowhere near long enough. After packing in her previous job as part of the Greek TV series Popstars’ manufactured girl band Hi-5, Marlain is set to star in one of the most popular musicals of all times: Saturday Night Fever on the Athens stage.
“I’m playing the role of Stephanie Mangano, the unpleasant girl who wouldn’t dance with John Travolta in the film,” she explained. Despite playing a significant role in the musical, Marlain refuses to watch Saturday Night Fever the movie, while she’s still rehearsing the role. “I don’t want to get confused and really the musical is different to the movie, so I’m saving the film for later.” She is also suffering time constraints: “Everyone who is in this production has taken on second jobs because this particular project doesn’t pay very well,” she explains. “We don’t get paid for rehearsals.”
Although Marlain’s day starts at 10 am, her profession requires a strong stomach for nightlife. Before she gets started on anything she heads for the treadmill for 15 minutes, has fruit for breakfast, washed down with tea and water. “I need a good two hours before I leave home but that’s only because during that time I have to prepare for my whole day and night,” she says. Marlain is something of a nomad. “I carry a wheelie suitcase with me, which contains my dance clothes and shoes for rehearsals, my clothes and accessories for my other job plus my make-up kit and an odd towel.” By the time she’s out the door, her manager is waiting for her outside to pick her up “on his bike” and take her to various meetings, including sit downs with composers and record companies.
By 2 pm she’s at the theatre and rehearsals begin. Performing with George Tsalikis, an A-List singer in Greece, Marlain is determined to prove worthy of the role. “I guess I was lucky because I knew the choreographer Leon Alderton with whom I had worked six months before doing another show,” she explains, “but I still had to go through auditions like everybody else. It has been difficult though as my Greek (her mother’s English, her father’s Cypriot) isn’t very good but I’m glad to say that the translation has been successful and it will fit in with the Brooklyn set.” Going over lines and rehearsing the songs with the musical director leaves little time for lunch and breaks. “Even our breaks are used up for rehearsing. We are all very dedicated.”
By 8pm the cast and production team sit down for dinner. Marlain admits to having a mania for red meat – “but it’s got to be lean or else I won’t eat it,” she explains. 11 pm and the blonde superstar legs it. She’s got a gig next and time is valuable.
“You know, it’s difficult to find a suitable bathroom where I can freshen up after rehearsal and the club’s toilets are always packed with guys, so it’s not very secluded.” Marlain’s second job is her second love: singing. She performs at hot, small clubs in Athens, where her love for classic rock tunes is unleashed, accompanied by her band Dicken’s Zoo. “I enjoyed being in Hi-5 but we were a manufactured pop group and we didn’t match artistically. It was fun and our first album went platinum while our second went gold but it wasn’t my type of fun. Rock, I enjoy.” Marlain has effortlessly juggled musicals, theatres and bands and has even represented Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1999.
2:30 am and Marlain usually grabs a bite to eat before unwinding at home with one of her favourite TV series. “I get home around about 3 am but as my night and day has been hectic I usually pop a DVD on and watch one of the many box sets I order off the Internet.” Alias, Six Feet Under or 24, Marlain needs the distraction before nodding off at 4 or 5 am.
