ICW: Marisha Wallace, Singer-Songwriter, and Stage Star.

Guys, I hate to be the one to tell you this but it is officially only 1 month until Christmas. I know, where on earth has the time gone? I couldn’t tell ya, but it is time to get into the holiday spirit, whatever that looks like for you, and Marisha Wallace is here to help. Her brand new Christmas song Little House in the Snow was released yesterday, and it feels just like a warm drink by the fire. Earlier this week I got to chat with Marisha about the song, the collaboration with Grammy Award-winning writer and producer Toby Gad, her incredible career on stage both Broadway and the West End, and how her journey in musical theatre has developed her as a song writer. Read/listen below, and once you have there’s a little link for all my Spotify users to check out the song!

Brianna (TBP)
So Little House in the snow. Can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration behind it? Like, how did the collaboration between Toby Gad come about? 

Marisha
So this song is super special, because I've been on a songwriting journey alongside of a lot of journeys that I've been on in the past couple of years. Just discovering new gifts, new talents and just kind of not being afraid to try something different that you know is kind of in you, but you don't know if you're good at it. You know what I mean? So I had met Toby Gad - Toby Gad is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter. He wrote If I Were a Boy, by Beyoncé, lots of Fergie songs, All Of Me by John Legend, Alicia Keys, Madonna, you name it. Like he's worked with amazing people. And he had one of his songs on my first album. And my friend Bobby at the time was like, “You need to go meet, you need to meet Toby Gad on Zoom and write with him.” And at the time, it was the pandemic. And nobody could get in the same room together. So me and Toby figured out how to write on Zoom. So we wrote over Zoom, he was in LA, I was in London. So we would start at like eight o'clock at night. And then we would go into the wee hours in the morning, like 3am. And it was the best experience ever. We wrote for about eight months together, on and off, and we wrote about 20 songs. And we had an idea for a Christmas song because I was like, there is no, there's not a lot of original Christmas music. And there's not a lot of original Christmas music that's like ballads or like, something for people who maybe are feeling a little emotional at Christmas, or want to bring back those memories of Christmas of yesteryear, and everyone goes through different emotions at Christmas time. Some people it’s a hard time for them, like mental health wise, sometimes it conjures up all kinds of feelings, it's like happiness, and it's very emotional. So I just wanted something that could help people process their emotions at Christmas. It's definitely like an emotional time for me because Christmas always has kind of a bittersweet memory. Because we weren't allowed to celebrate Christmas in my house because of my father who had mental health issues. And so my mom would give us a secret Christmas. And just her giving us that secret Christmas? Like it meant so much to me that she still - even though she was fighting these battles, she wanted us to be happy. And so this, I dedicated this song to her, I wrote this song about her.

Brianna (TBP)  
Oh my god, aren’t mothers the most incredible human beings in the whole world?

Marisha
Incredible humans, they won’t let their child suffer.

Brianna (TBP)  
How does the process of writing a Christmas song differ from writing other genres? Like just different elements that you might have to think about? What elements do you focus on to get that kind of holiday feeling?

Marisha 
Well, I wanted it to feel like a song that you already know, that you think you already knew like those classic tunes, like the classic melodies, and something that was super catchy as well. Something that elicited a lot of memories, because the holidays has a lot of memories and we want it to elicit those. The memories of opening your gifts, the memories of being around the table with your family, the memories of playing games, like in your living room, the fireplace, the smells. So that's kind of what we focus on in the lyricsm were all the sensory things around Christmas. But then also, from a pop perspective we wanted something that was really classic but cool, like because you know, a lot of Christmas music can be very cheesy - which we love, that's fine! But then we kind of wanted something that could feel a little bit more timeless and I think that's what we achieved. 

Brianna (TBP)  
So true, I feel like Christmas music that’s come out recently has been very like chart friendly. Where I do love like a Bing Crosby, that kind of sound. 

Marisha
Yeah, getting back to that like chestnuts roasting on an open fire, like those lush, super lush Christmas songs. But we stripped it right back with the piano, but then we added strings at the end. So there’s still that Christmas feeling and sound. 

Brianna (TBP)  
And obviously, you’re a musical theatre performer as well, that's what people might know you as. In fact, I would go so far as to say, an icon of the stage. How do you kind of bring that musical theatre flair into a recording so that, you know, you can get that performance element almost without us actually seeing you?

Marisha
Well, that's the thing is like, with musical theatre that has made me such a strong writer. Because every song in a musical is story-based, or it has to, you know, advance the plot, or it's getting the character from point A to point B. So by the end of the song, they've changed. And that's kind of what my music is like. So this story that we created around this song is like a little girl who's dreaming of the Christmases that she's seen on television, you know, in Home Alone - all those, you know, fantastical Christmases. But that wasn't my reality. But in my head, even with a garbage bag full of presents, that's the fantasy that I created. So musical theatre makes you feel that fantasy, and also how I sing it, we can put emotion in every lyric so that the audience can really see the story we're telling with the song. And I think that's going to be the thing that separates when people do hear it on the radio, because, you know, when you hear a song on the radio, you’re like, “Oh yeah, that was great song.” But this song stops you in your tracks. And you're like, “Oh, what is this?” You know what I mean? Like, “I want to really just stop and listen to it”.

Brianna (TBP)  
Those are the best songs I think. I think that's what separates great musicians from good musicians like Bob Dylan, storyteller, Bruce Springsteen, storyteller, like, those are the great ones.

Marisha
And those are the ones that last forever, right.

Brianna (TBP)  
So, you’ve worked on both Broadway and the West End? And I'd love to know, how do these two theatre scenes differ from each other? And what kind of unique challenges and opportunities have they both presented you?

Marisha
Well, I would say Broadway and West End are different in the fact that theatre is in the fabric of the DNA of this town. Like your grandma’s, grandma’s, grandma’s, grandma took you to see even a panto, you know what I mean? Like we don't have the panto tradition. So that, you're going to go see theatre, even from the time you're a baby, you know what I mean? Which I think that changes how people perceive theatre and the theatre is also really valued by The Royal Family and the Queen and, you know, the government. And like, the National Theatre, we don't have a National Theatre in America. We have the Kennedy Centre, but it's not like the National. It's not like, “this is the hub of the best theatre in the country.” Do you know what I mean? But the fact that we have a place here that is funded by the government, and also theatre is subsidised here, which makes a huge difference. So then, theatre can take a lot of risks here that it can't take on Broadway because of the commercialisation and how much money it costs. So I feel like the work that I've done here has been so risky, and so exciting, because we're not worried about, “We've spent $20 million, what are we gonna do?” So it's just a different in that respect. I think that's different. And then I also feel what's different is the audience like, if they love you, they just latch on. They're there with you the whole way. America, there's so much choice. There's so many people, it's so saturated, that you can kind of get lost and here I feel like I found my people, I found my tribe and now in America it’s even reverberating there. Here I didn't - I wasn't just a black girl singing the soul. Like I'm Marisha. And that was kind of a wild attitude adjustment, you know what I mean? And then a mindset adjustment to be like, I actually can do everything if I want to. Like I said, I don’t have to limit myself, I don't have to be the gospel singer who comes out sings one number and then leaves. Like, I could have a full narrative, I could play the roles that I never thought I could play like Ado Annie and Adelaide. But I don't know if I would have been given the opportunity on Broadway. I don't know that. Because of the amount of money and people don't like to take risks. But now people will take a risk on me because they've seen the proof of the product. So I will thank the West End. And I thank London for seeing me from the very beginning. When I was playing Effie, people were like, “No, that's what we want.” I never felt like I've had to change myself, without wanting to change myself, you know, I never felt pressure to be anything but myself when I got here. I felt like in New York, I was competing. And here, I’m creating.

Brianna (TBP)  
That's interesting to hear that because I feel like it's maybe the only industry that that kind of applies to - a lot of the time you listened to British artists say, well, I need to go to America to make it. So it’s interesting to hear you say, the inverse of that.

Marisha
Yeah, well, I think it is so weird because it's like, when you're different in a different country it’s exciting. You know, I'm an American coming here, it’s exciting. A Brit goes to America, they're like, “Oh, your accent, your voice!” So I think it's just a lesson in just being uniquely yourself. If you are uniquely yourself then actually being different is good, being different, is great. So go somewhere where you can be different, you know, and out of your comfort zone, that's another thing. When you're out of your comfort zone, you can fly, and you don't have the pressure of your family around you, or expectations of what people have for you are gone. You can just start fresh.

Brianna (TBP)  
There's a real freedom in that. So you mentioned there Ado Annie, obviously you are killing it in Guys and Dolls right now as Adelaide and have been for a hot minute. You've been in some iconic productions. You've also been in my dream West End production, which is Something Rotten. Like I want that on a West End Stage so badly. 

Marisha
So good. 

Brianna (TBP)
Oh, my God. And they would eat up here like we need a transfer.

Marisha
I know! I keep telling them they're like, “We need to change it for the UK.” I'm like, no, it’s perfect!

Brianna (TBP)  
Just give it exactly as it is. We’d love it.

Marisha
Exactly as it is!

Brianna (TBP)  
What have been some of your favourite roles or productions to be a part of and can you share what made them so pivotal for you and your career?

Marisha  
Well, first off is definitely Effie in Dream Girls. Well, I was playing Eggy Whites in Something Rotten, I was a tap-dancing egg! And then I get a call from my agent that says, “Hey, do you want to play Effie White on the West End? You need to leave tonight.” That's literally how it happened. 

Brianna (TBP)
Tonight?!

Marisha
Tonight. And then I was like, I need two days to sort myself out. Because I knew in that moment, I wasn't coming back. I knew it. Because I had been praying for this. Like I literally, I was going through the toughest time of my life. I was on the edge of a divorce, I had only two months left of rent, saved, my ex was not working, my show was closing. And I was on my knees like - and when I pray to God, I don't get on my knees like I just do it in my bed. I actually got on my knees old-school style. And I said God, if you get me out of this situation, I will run for my life, I will fulfil the promises that I have for myself, I will become the star that I know that I am. And then two weeks later, I got that call. And then when I got that call, I was like, wow, okay.

Brianna (TBP)  
That is- that is… chills. I got chills.

Marisha
That happened. And then I just packed up everything I had. And I threw it in the basement, and I took all my clothes and I left and I never looked back. I got a divorce, I moved here, I got a visa, I stayed and then Effie White came. And then I was only supposed to be in Dream Girls for three weeks. Because I was replacing Amber (Riley) who had pneumonia. And then they were like, “You can't leave because we can't do the show without you, like you have to stay.” Because it’s a hard role to sing, you have to have somebody that really knows like I'm a Broadway vet and it's hard for me. It was hard shows. So like if anybody who's not experienced is trying to do this? It’s hard. So they said stay six months, and then I stayed six months, and then six months became a year. And then they told me to take over the role, and then I did it for two years, and then I got my extraordinary talent visa. And then I continued, so Effie White was the beginning of the whole thing. And those fans, I still have fans today, who were at that first performance of me going on. And they were like, “Who is this? What is this?” And now to look back on that time to where I am now? It’s crazy. I don't even remember what your question was, but it's definitely Effie White that changed my life forever, like it did.

Brianna (TBP)  
Yeah, I mean, that answers it. The question was like, what were the roles that were pivotal in your career, and that's it, like that’s the one.

Marisha
That role was pivotal. But then also, Ado Annie was the one who changed everything. So like for years, for the past 20 years, I’ve done commercial theatre. So I didn't even really realise there was a divide between like - especially here - between like commercial hits, like Book of Mormon, Aladdin, Hamilton - that's like a whole section of theatre in itself. And there’s this other section that's a little more niche that's making art for art's sake. And there's a lot of Oscar-winning actors who started in this part of it. A lot of people who you see like in Marvel movies and things like that, this is where they start. Like, the guy from Get Out, Daniel (Kaluuya), he started at the Young Vic. So when I got the Young Vic, I was like, “Oh, this is - now we're doing art for art's sake”, not just, you know, the machine of like a commercial hit. Which is fine, you make great money. It started my life, and it taught me so much. Actually, the things I've learned from commercial theatre has made me a success on this side of it. But Ado Annie, that was when people were like, “Oh, she's an actress. She's funny, she can act, she can sing.” and they're like, where have you been? And I was like, ummmm. 

Both
(Laugh)

Brianna (TBP)
I’ve been here! 

Marisha
I’ve been here! So that was where Nicholas Hytner saw me, where I got the respect of like, the British theatre elites. Which I think was like, “whoa, okay” - because I'm so not that, I’m so regular-shmegular, just a normal person. Like, I love theatre, I love art. But, you know, it's not my whole - I mean it's my life, but like…

Brianna (TBP)  
I feel like I know what you mean. 

Marisha  
You know what I mean, right, I’m not a theatre snob. Like, I'm totally like, fine, I love what I do, it’s great. But to get their approval, and now people take me really seriously, and then Guys and Dolls happened and I've gotten to prove myself even further. It's just kind of been a journey of proving myself, but now I feel like I'm in a state of just like being myself now. I'm not proving anything. I've proved it. So now any of the next projects that I get coming in, I'm more creating now like I'm doing things from the ground up. I have a lot of say in who's on the creative team. Which is a big one for me, because I'm trying to get more black people, more black women, women of colour - of all colours, just more diversity. Different genders as well just like, more diversity on all sides, not just on stage. In the stage management, in the casting in the direction, in the scene design, like having people of different backgrounds makes your show more rich. It just does. 

Brianna (TBP)  
It so does. It really does. That's exciting. I'm excited to hear and to see how that develops and what comes from it.

Marisha 
It's gonna be good.

Brianna (TBP)  
Okay, let's jump back to Christmas real quick. So Christmas is right around the corner. And we all have our own little traditions or ways of celebrating - what are you most looking forward to doing during the holidays? 

Marisha
Oh, I’m excited to eat! 

Both
(Laugh)

Marisha
Well, I'm actually possibly going to meet my boyfriend's parents for the first time. I don't know. So that’ll be fun to be like, out of the city in like, a very rural place that’s kind of like where I'm from. And to be with family and to be with people who who just - what do I call them, we call them the muggles! - I love being with the muggles. I'm like, “Oh, I’m just a regular person, I’m not performing, I'm not doing any of that. I'm just doing Christmas like the rest of y'all.” It’s great, that's my favourite part.

Brianna (TBP)  
Okay, last question. If you could sum up the song in three words, what would your three words be?

Marisha  
Moving…emotional… and magical.

Little House in the Snow is out now. Spotify users, click here to listen now.