A Goldsboro native is now an international singing sensation.
Marisha Wallace grew up on a Wayne County farm with a musical family. Opportunity led her to eventually make her home in London, where she has performed on stages in London’s West End.
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"I sang at Holy Temple Church on Dollard Town Road. And my mom, Rachelle Wallace, was also a singer," explained Wallace.
As she grew, Wallace knew that music was her destiny. "I kind of fell into musical theater because I just wanted to be a singer," she said. After graduating from East Carolina University, she started working as a singer at Hershey Park, Pa., and on cruise ships.
Wallace says her first big break was earning a part in the first national tour of "The Book of Mormon." That was followed by a part on Broadway’s "Aladdin." Eventually, she was asked to perform in London for a production of "Dream Girls" where she played the role of Effie White.
One thing led to another and suddenly, Wallace was singing "The White Cliffs of Dover" for a large audience including the royal family.
"It’s just been an amazing journey going from, you know, living on a pig farm to now, I just sang for the queen," said Wallace.
A string of musical roles kept her busy in London theaters. She had been performing in the production "Waitress" when, in January, COVID-19 began to spread.
"I started feeling a bit sick the last days of the tour and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I’m just run down,’" she said.
Wallace continued fighting the virus for three weeks. Most of her friends in the theater were also quarantined with the illness. By then, she said, everything was shut down.
While in her London flat, Wallace turned isolation to inspiration. She worked with her producer and recorded her own rendition of "Tomorrow" from the musical production of "Annie."
Her producer, Steve Anderson, created a music track and sent it to Wallace. "I took the track, and I recorded it right here in this room," said Wallace. The album "Tomorrow" is her debut effort with Universal Music Group’s Decca Records.
Friends in the theater and those in other walks of life in the U.S. and U.K. helped with visuals, recording themselves on video holding up bits and pieces of the song’s lyrics. "It went viral. We had over hundreds of thousands of views on that video," said Wallace.
"And I gave the money from the single to charity for performers and actors and backstage people who couldn’t work anymore, which led to this record deal that I have now, which is so crazy," explained Wallace.
She attributes her own sense of hope and optimism to her mother. She said, "My mom always instilled in me to keep positive even when things are darkest because it’s always darkest before the dawn."
"Tomorrow" the song goes, "you’re always a day away."
Marisha Wallace also plays a big role in a new holiday movie called "Jingle Jangle." It includes an all star-cast with music produced by John Legend. Wallace describes it as "the first Black Christmas musical movie ever made."