The saying ‘you never work a day in your life doing what you love’ is a great way to describe Maria Mercedes’ career.
There aren’t many people in Australia who can say they’ve had an equal shot at singing and acting, and Maria is certainly one of the lucky ones.
Now, the singing siren and silver screen star is merging the two mediums and singing some of the most recognisable songs in the western world thanks to a spy movie legacy.
The James Bond movie series has captured the world, not just with its suave spy lead, its exotic locations and expensive cars, but with its undeniably recognisable soundtracks.
The Songs of James Bond will see Maria take to the stage again, alongside three other accomplished singers and a 16-piece orchestra, to perform the most loved songs from the Bond legacy.
Arguably one of the most famous songs and movies, Diamonds are Forever will be sung by Maria, along with another six sung exclusively by herself.
Old classics like Goldfinger and Live and Let Die will be juxtaposed with the more recent themes to Casino Royale and Skyfall, something Maria finds quite telling of the longevity of the series.
“The beauty of the Bond concept and longevity is that they are able to capture a present audience regardless of the age and genre,” she tells Neos Kosmos.
Over 21 songs will feature on the night, as well as an audiovisual experience that will show parts of the films from which the songs come projected behind the singers.
Coinciding with the Melbourne Museum’s exhibition, Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style, the concert will start a month long tribute to the British movie monopoly.
Many might be able to recognise the Bond theme in just seconds, but the opening sequences in the movies have remained a memory trigger to the themes of the movie and their era.
“Quite frankly, the music has endured in people’s minds and hearts,” Maria says.
“We may forget the actual film, but we haven’t forgotten the songs and the music.”
Maria will be singing six of the famous themes, including For Your Eyes Only, Nobody Does It Better, Moonraker and All Time High.
It’s something she’s been in preparation mode for for about a month and has just had her first rehearsals with the band.
“At the moment you’re just recording with a piano backing but to hear it with the whole band, it’s just spine tingling,” she says.
Singing has been a part of her life from a young age. Growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, Maria became a child of the night time variety shows, and went on to win Young Talent Time and New Faces. They were what launched her into the world of showbiz and made her a household name.
“At the ripe old age of 16, I was a professional, singing around Australia, doing concerts, singing on the daytime and night time variety shows.”
She was lucky her migrant, working class parents were supportive. Her father was actually an aspiring actor in Greece, but left it all behind to move to Australia for better prospects.
“I had the blessing of both my parents, much of the dismay of the Greek community,” she says with a big laugh.
The only thing her father disagreed with was changing her name.
Like many before her, Maria Moutsidis became Maria Mercedes, a way to become more accessible to an Anglo-centric audience.
“When I started, there were only a few Greek or Italian performers,” she remembers.
“We were the trailblazers at the time.”
She kept her heritage alive by taking roles that harnessed her identity. In 1998, she starred in the Christos Tsiolkas inspired movie Head On with fellow Greek, Alex Demetriades. In 2005 she took the lead in the movie Dreams of Life by Cypriot writer-director Anna Kannava, in which she played a Greek woman hoping to make it as a dancer, much to the disapproval of her parents.
Whether it’s that the roles keep finding her or she actively seeks them out, she is currently filming a TV series based on the true story of criminal Tony Mokbel’s capture in Greece.
Set in Melbourne, the series is produced by the same makers of Underbelly, and will be called Fat Tony.
Her heritage has been something that Maria is very attached to, and is the first to tell you how much being Greek has influenced her work and attitudes.
She’s using her 30 years experience in the industry to currently judge the Antipodes Greek Short Film Festival entries while preparing for the Bond concert.
The two mediums have remained not just interchangeable to Maria, but joint projects.
She found a common ground between her two loves in musical theatre. She was the first woman in the world to play Frank-N-Furter in the Rocky Horror Show and received critical acclaim from Andrew Lloyd Webber for her role as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.
She was even awarded with an ARIA award for the Nine soundtrack and a Mo award for the production as well.
During her career, Maria has recognised the benefits and limitations of both mediums, but won’t be leaving one for the other anytime soon.
“Music can be very emotive, and it can trigger emotions within people,” she says.
“With acting, you just have the words to be able to do that. In that way it’s a lot harder, and you have to be a lot more truthful.”
That’s why Maria will never call herself an actress or a singer, she will always be both.
The Songs of James Bond concert is on November 8 from 8.00 pm and November 9 from 2.00 pm and 8.00 pm at the Athenaeum Theatre. Tickets are $50 to $99 and can be bought from ticketek.com.au or by calling 96501500. For more information visit thesongsofjamesbond.com.au