Brian Beacom

MICA Paris is certainly the lady to speak to about fame.

Set to star in the stage musical of the same name, the South Londoner is perfectly placed to discuss the impact of success, how it can reward – and reduce the recipient to a wreck of a human.

Soul singer Mica, who stars in Fame- The Musical as the very formidable Performing Arts teacher Miss Sherman, found fame to be at the very least, a fickle friend.

The lady who sang with Prince on stage and had a platinum album by the age of 19 later found herself bankrupt.

And abandoned by the record company.

Mica also experienced close up what fame can do to those who allowed their heads to be turned by it.

“I remember when my first record blew up in the States I went to live in New York, “ she recalls.

“And in my apartment block was Ernest Hemingway’s daughter, Margaux, who later committed suicide.

“I was also really close friends with Natalie Cole and losing her was really tough.

“Natalie had been my champion. She was so special for me and pushed me onto so many shows.

“The thing was, she’d been clean for 20 years but her kidneys had been so destroyed by the drugs.

“She said to me three years ago , ‘You know girl, this dialysis machine is killing me’. And it was the last time I would see her. It was so sad because she was such a fighter.”

Mica Paris had to cope too with the death of Prince, who been a huge fan of the then teenage star, who first met him at Camden Palace.

“I hadn’t see him for 10 years when I was invited to his after-show party, again in Camden, but I was shocked when I saw him.

“He was so thin and going off stage all the time, which wasn’t like him at all. A couple of months later he was dead.”

She adds; “The really dark side of fame is the secrecy. Prince, for example, gave the impression of being together.

“In all the years I hung out with that man I never saw him take a drug. He’d have a little glass of brandy and that was it. But this consummate showman was wearing a mask.

“It was the same with Whitney. I knew her from Day One. She was a tomboy, not the demure person the image suggested. She was a Home Girl. Her life was a façade, and reality wasn’t allowed in the business.

“And when people live an illusion they become a casualty.”

Paris survived the music industry but it was a tough learning ground.

“Being a successful young woman could make you vulnerable to attack.

“I was with with Island Records at the time and remember doing a radio interview and thinking it was all going well, talking about how my record had been produced, that sort of thing.

“But (rock star) Robert Palmer had been listening and he called up Chris Blackwell (the boss of Island) and said ‘She’s a bit cocky.’ And I was really upset to hear this.

“You see, I was just excited. However, back then, as a girl, you weren’t supposed to talk detail about making records.

“You were supposed to be a sweet little girl that said nothing.”

Paris never met Palmer. “No, he was amazing and all of that, but I probably would have knocked him out,” she says, grinning.

The mum-of-two has since reinvented herself as a musical theatre star.

“Working in theatre can be a bit touch and go for me, it’s all about choosing the right role but oh, baby, this one really works for me.”

She adds; “When I loved to New York (Fame star) Irene Cara lived in the same block.

“I was 19 at the time. And can you imagine. I was so pleased when she said hello to me.

“Now, 30 years later I’m in the same show.”

Mica says the musical really gets under the skin of the audience.

“This musical is a little bit dark. But you know, in a time when everything is so friggin’ PC that’s a good thing.

“People come to this show and they cry. It’s that powerful, man.”

She loves her character. “She’s hardcore. She’s me.”

Mica adds, laughing; “Well, not quite. You know people look at me and because I’m five ten they think I’m going to knock ‘em out.

“But it’s rubbish. I’m completely the opposite. I’m soft as s***.

So how does she find the toughness?

“Well, there are a lot of teachers in my family. My older sister is a teacher and she’s only five four and she’s really scary.”

Mica adds, laughing; “It’s not hard for me to channel her.”

Mica believes teaching is “really parenting.”

“And I believe Miss Sherman really wants her students to do well, even if it means kicking their a***s to make it happen. It’s about caring.

“Sadly, we don’t get so many teachers who practise all of this these days.”

Paris would loved to have learned about fame via a fame school.

“I thought it to be insane that working class people could go to such a place to learn their art,” she says, smiling.

“My parents couldn’t have done that so I went to a local comprehensive and dreamed of going to a school like that.

“It was such an aspirational film.”

Perhaps if she had been taught what to expect from the industry, being given bodyguards to go for a pint of milk, encouraged by the excesses,spending more than she had, it may have been different?

“Sometimes you’ve got learn from your mistakes,” she says smiling.

“But as a female it was really tough then.

“However, I can see change come about. My 12 year-old daughter is part of the generation that will change things.

“These girls won’t take any nonsense.”

Fame - The Musical, the King’s Theatre, until Saturday.