Marina’s first professional audition resulted in her first lead role – that of Mabel in the Victoria

State Opera’s The Pirates of Penzance. She was subsequently invited to perform the role of

Guinevere opposite Richard Harris in Camelot. She then went on to perform the characters of

Jellylorum and Griddlebone in the Australian premiere production of Cats, Josephine in the

Victoria State Opera’s production of H.M.S. Pinafore, Kathy in the Lyric Opera of Queensland’s

The Student Prince and Adele in the Victoria State Opera’s concert version of Die Fledermaus.

In 1987, Marina landed the role of Cosette in the Australian premiere of Les Miserables and at

times appeared as Fantine in the same production. During this run, she took time out to play

Hope Harcourt in Anything Goes. Marina created the role of Christine Daae in the original

Australian production of The Phantom of the Opera, which she performed for three years.

Following this theatrical success, Marina starred in roles including Maria in West Side Story, Lily

in The Secret Garden, Magnolia in Showboat, the title role of The Merry Widow, Jane Smart in

The Witches Of Eastwick, Belinda Blair in the hit comedy Noises Off, Mary O’Hara in Harp On

The Willow, Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun, Lilli Vanessi in Kiss Me, Kate, Rona Lisa

Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Elmire in The Hypocrite, Adelaide in

Guys And Dolls, Muriel Eubanks in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Mrs Banks in Mary Poppins, Fran

Kubelik in Promises, Promises and Frances in Jumpy for The Melbourne Theatre Company.

A critically acclaimed Australasian concert tour with international tenor, José Carreras, remains

one of the many highlights of Marina’s career. Other concert engagements include performances

with the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and symphony

orchestras throughout Australia.

She is also well known to television audiences through her appearances on such shows as Carols

by Candlelight, as a judge on Channel Seven’s It Takes Two and, more recently, as Iris in The

ABC series The Divorce.

Marina has recorded six CDs: Leading Lady (which reached platinum status), Aspects of Andrew

Lloyd Webber (which reached gold status and received an ARIA nomination), Somewhere – The

Songs of Sondheim and Bernstein, Both Sides Now – a collection of songs from the 70s and 80s,

Encore – a collection of her favourite music theatre songs and Candlelight Christmas – her first

Christmas album.

She has received numerous awards including four MO Awards, three Green Room Awards, and

the Advance Australia Award for her contribution to the performing arts. In 1999, Marina was

guest of honour for the television program This Is Your Life which paid tribute to her career so

far. In 2006, she was honoured with induction into Australia’s 100 Entertainers of the Century.

Marina is currently playing the role of Baroness Schraeder in The Sound of Music.