Nicola Marie was born in Nottinghamshire in 1976.
She started dancing at the age of four, going on to study at Elaine Varney, Janet Ashton & Debbie Pegg schools and academies in Nottingham and Lincoln and attaining ‘honours’ at each age group through to sixteen.
During her early teens Nicola performed key roles in a number of musical theatre productions including ‘Annie’, ‘Carousel’,
Fiddler On The Roof’ and also The D’Oyly Carte production of ‘Yeoman Of The Guard’.
At the age of just fourteen she joined a Nottingham theatre group ‘NET’ and was honoured to be cast in the challenging role of the singing narrator in a new musical ‘William Booth’ at the Nottingham Playhouse. [Her name Nicola Harris remains in the original score]
At sixteen Nicola pursued her ambitions by studying for a ‘B-tech’ in performing arts at The Nottingham Arts In Education Centre. During this time she was involved in writing songs and choreographing routines for many production shows and she twice performed at The Edinburgh Festival.
Upon completion of her course Nicola was awarded a Nottinghamshire County Council grant [of £32,000] to study at one of the UK’s most prestigious stage schools, ‘Laine Theatre Arts’ London.
Whilst at ‘Laines’ Nicola studied all aspects of acting, dance and singing but it was renowned vocal coach and singer Nigel Brookes [BBC’s Nigel Brookes Singers] who identified and enhanced Nicola’s unique vocal talent by introducing her to opera.
During vacation Nicola applied for seasonal work at ‘Butlins’ in Skegness. However following audition Entertainments Manager Paul Wright offered her a full time position as the resorts principal female vocalist .. an opportunity Nicola realised to be too good to miss! Nicola went on to perform in 12 different shows per week, having learned over 100 songs and a number of complex dance routines in just one month.
For three years Nicola worked at the resort. She had her own show produced for her, singing to a live band [‘Carnival Magic’] and dancing with six professional dancers [‘Obsession’] in the most prestigious of venues and to audiences of over 3,500 each night. As Nicola says, “amazing times!”.
In 1998 Nicola decided that in order to prevent herself from becoming ‘stale,’ to enhance her experience and to face new challenges she had to move on. At a resort in Great Yarmouth she fronted a new band [‘Images’] and undertook a more interactive role with the audience, learning very quickly how to build rapport and to incorporate appropriate audience participation in to the show.
At the end of that year Nicola and the band joined a prestigious North American cruise ship, ‘The Festival Bolero’ and they performed on board as the ship cruised the Caribbean for the next six months. Nicola performed cocktail sets with the band and West End style production shows with the ships’ cast.
She started dancing at the age of four, going on to study at Elaine Varney, Janet Ashton & Debbie Pegg schools and academies in Nottingham and Lincoln and attaining ‘honours’ at each age group through to sixteen.
During her early teens Nicola performed key roles in a number of musical theatre productions including ‘Annie’, ‘Carousel’,
Fiddler On The Roof’ and also The D’Oyly Carte production of ‘Yeoman Of The Guard’.
At the age of just fourteen she joined a Nottingham theatre group ‘NET’ and was honoured to be cast in the challenging role of the singing narrator in a new musical ‘William Booth’ at the Nottingham Playhouse. [Her name Nicola Harris remains in the original score]
At sixteen Nicola pursued her ambitions by studying for a ‘B-tech’ in performing arts at The Nottingham Arts In Education Centre. During this time she was involved in writing songs and choreographing routines for many production shows and she twice performed at The Edinburgh Festival.
Upon completion of her course Nicola was awarded a Nottinghamshire County Council grant [of £32,000] to study at one of the UK’s most prestigious stage schools, ‘Laine Theatre Arts’ London.
Whilst at ‘Laines’ Nicola studied all aspects of acting, dance and singing but it was renowned vocal coach and singer Nigel Brookes [BBC’s Nigel Brookes Singers] who identified and enhanced Nicola’s unique vocal talent by introducing her to opera.
During vacation Nicola applied for seasonal work at ‘Butlins’ in Skegness. However following audition Entertainments Manager Paul Wright offered her a full time position as the resorts principal female vocalist .. an opportunity Nicola realised to be too good to miss! Nicola went on to perform in 12 different shows per week, having learned over 100 songs and a number of complex dance routines in just one month.
For three years Nicola worked at the resort. She had her own show produced for her, singing to a live band [‘Carnival Magic’] and dancing with six professional dancers [‘Obsession’] in the most prestigious of venues and to audiences of over 3,500 each night. As Nicola says, “amazing times!”.
In 1998 Nicola decided that in order to prevent herself from becoming ‘stale,’ to enhance her experience and to face new challenges she had to move on. At a resort in Great Yarmouth she fronted a new band [‘Images’] and undertook a more interactive role with the audience, learning very quickly how to build rapport and to incorporate appropriate audience participation in to the show.
At the end of that year Nicola and the band joined a prestigious North American cruise ship, ‘The Festival Bolero’ and they performed on board as the ship cruised the Caribbean for the next six months. Nicola performed cocktail sets with the band and West End style production shows with the ships’ cast.