Theatrical couple Marina Prior and Grant Piro happy to get back to work

After two years without work, landing roles in the same city was an added bonus for theatrical couple Marina Prior and Grant Piro.

Actors Marina Prior and husband Grant Piro have had 40 years to master life on the road, and just like their day jobs, have it down to a fine art form.

But over their 13 years of marriage, it’s rare the Melbourne-based couple are working in the same city at the same time, so when Prior’s role in 9 To 5 and Piro’s in Girl From The North Country offered the chance to be in Sydney at the same time, it was the perfect antidote to two years of Melbourne lockdowns.

And while those long lockdowns were at times a welcome homecoming for performers so often on the road, it was also hard when two actors can’t work, and don’t get paid.

“I was literally about to start 9 To 5 rehearsals two years ago when Covid hit and at first we thought it would be a few weeks or a couple of months and then of course it was basically two years in Melbourne, and it wasn’t easy,” Prior says.

Grant Piro and Marina Prior are both working on musicals in Sydney. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Personally, I relished the time being at home and not jumping on a plane but obviously economically it was difficult because we both just had no means of earning any money at all, so we sold our beach house.”

While acknowledging they were in a fortunate position to have such a lifeline, it was the result of years of hard work that allowed them to do so.

“So when it came to having no income for two years, we were pretty well able to look after ourselves, but it was stressful and we went right to the bottom,” Piro says.

“And we were really, really looking forward to being able to work again,” Prior laughs.

The theatrical couple aptly met on stage, in a Romeo And Juliet “love at first sight” moment during their time in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

For both it’s their second marriage, and with five adult children between them, ranging in age from 18 to 26, their modern-day Brady Bunch is founded on, but not solely sustained by, a shared love of performing.

“We’ve been friends for a very long time and it was lovely that we met on stage and that we share the same job and emotions and we share the same passion,” Piro says.

“It makes us a very happy little family.”

But they don’t agree on everything.

“I love Joni Mitchell and Carole King and that sort of singer-songwriter type, whereas Grant’s much more rock and roll – but we meet in the middle,” Prior says.

“We love Bob Dylan and Dolly Parton and we both love country and jazz, so we agree on that but we have very different tastes in music.”

Piro describes their family dynamic as a happy one, but with its normal challenges “just like everybody else”.

Marina Prior rehearsing with the cast of 9 To 5.

And while it’s hard being away from the kids, two of whom work in theatres and the youngest who is old enough to drive himself to school, it is easier now than it was when they were younger, and when either of them gets a few days off they fly home to Melbourne to be with them.

“This life is not weird for them,” Piro says.

“They’ve only ever known us being a circus family, so they are very used to us being away or at home or on tour.”

Piro’s Adelaide-based father is currently staying in their Melbourne family home while he builds a house, so all the kids have dinner with him.

They’re the family moments Prior and Piro hate missing out on, but love seeing.

“They’re sending all these photos of these big Italian dinners with everyone and their partners and not us,” Prior says.

“It’s so lovely to see them all gathering around independently without us.”

And after their shared Sydney stint, life on the road calls again.

Piro will stay in town for Girl From The North Country until March 20 before heading to Adelaide, while Prior will be here until May.

“We’re lucky that we’ve been able to spend this time together,” Piro says.

“We’ve both been doing this for nearly 40 years, so it comes with the territory that you tour and that you move around and you just make it work.”

Grant Piro (back left) with the cast of Girl From The North Country. Picture: Pierre Toussaint

They understand the process and what the other is going through, Prior says, giving them intimate insight into the pressures of being a performer.

“So when Grant is on performance schedule I know what that means and what that timetable means,” she says.

“At the moment, I’m in tech rehearsal, which is a huge time, very long hours and very time consuming and exhausting. It’s such a peculiar job that we have.”

But that shared experience is not the only reason they work as a couple, Piro says.

“Good relationships are good relationships,” he says.

“It doesn’t really matter what you do for a job. If you love your partner you’re going to have a good relationship but it’s made extra easy for us because it is a stressful job and there’s a lot of anxiety – and uncertainty – that goes with being a performer.

“If you’re working on TV and film there’s margin for error but when you’re working in the theatre, there’s not. It’s do or die in the moment.

The couple are enjoying their time together working in the same city. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“The thing is this isn’t just what we do, it’s what we feel we were born to do.

“That feeling of walking into that first day of rehearsal with this group who are a like- minded tribe and it’s just so exciting.

“And after not having done it for quite some time because of Covid, I am relishing every moment I can, constantly reminding myself of what a privilege it is to be able to do what you love doing more than anything else in the world.

“I get so emotional about it because I’ve been doing this since I was 16, when I left school to join a soap opera and I know that you should never identify yourself just through your job, but as a patriarch in my family, I really do identify as an actor.

“It is a huge part of who I am. It’s what I know, and it’s how I feed my family.

“And knowing full well that I was able to go back to work and do that again, and be in a room of people who feel the same as me, makes me so happy.

“It’s how we express ourselves and it’s so very important.”

9 To 5 now showing at the Capitol Theatre; Girl From The North Country at the Theatre Royal until February 27

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