Mica Paris says she’s landed the role of her life in a gutsy West End show about addiction and exploitation in showbusiness.
As the soul singer prepares to take to the stage in Rehab The Musical in January, she admits she has been “surrounded by addicts” most of her life.
The mother-of-two, awarded an MBE for services to music, entertainment and charity in 2020, witnessed her father’s habit and lost friends and colleagues to drugs, including superstar pal Whitney Houston.
Co-produced by Oscar-winning Bond film songwriter Don Black, Rehab also stars Twin Town and Robin Hood actor Keith Allen.
It tells the story of a young pop star with a tough manager who ends up in a residential addiction centre when his drug habit is exposed.
Mica, 54, has had hits including My One Temptation, plus a platinum-selling album when she was only 19.
The singer said: “I’ve been in this industry 36 years now and I have been surrounded by addicts most of my life.
“The thing that’s beautiful about the show is it really shows you all the different aspects of addiction. They’ve done it in such a very clever way.”
And speaking about the attraction of drugs for many, Mica, who says she has never had issues herself, added: “You start off, it’s great and everyone loves it at the beginning. Then fast-forward you see the crash.
“I’ve seen the crash with friends, people I have loved over the years, over and over again.
“It’s quite a painful subject for me because I’ve lost so many people to that stuff. It’s horrible.
“You can’t be in the industry and not have seen it. There are some survivors and I always applaud people when I see they made it.”
Despite it being “a very dark subject” Mica is pleased they have found some light in the tragedy, with music and songs that will stay in your head long after, she said.
“I saw it twice when it was in a theatre in west London and I wanted to be in it,” the former EastEnders star said.
“I have a real passion for this and I think it was because of my dad. I watched him growing up and he used to dabble in all that stuff and it really put me off.
“I was just like ‘No, I don’t want that’. I was really good friends with Whitney as well and that broke my heart.”
- Rehab the Musical runs at Neon 194 in London for five weeks from January 12 to February 17. Visit: kxtickets.com