"I've performed in Russia and I've even done shows in Mongolia and I haven't done a show in Taree!" Nikki said.

Now that's about to change. On Sunday, August 14, Nikki will be bringing her own show, Invincible - The Helen Reddy Story, to the Manning Entertainment Centre.

This is no tribute show. It's Nikki telling Helen Reddy's story, interspersed with the songs of Helen Reddy. Nikki says it is a unique show.

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"It really is just an unbelievable story ... this massive inspirational story of this incredibly trailblazing woman," Nikki explains.

"You've got this woman who was a single mum in Melbourne, (at a time) when single mothers all over Australia were having their children just taken from them. So not only did she not let that happen, she she won a competition, went to the United States, became like the first woman, Australian, to do so many things.

"She was the first one to have a number one hit in the United States, the first one to win a Grammy Award, the first one to host their own television show in 40 countries around the world. She's the first woman to hold a credit card and a mortgage in her own name in the United States.

"And then she wrote a feminist anthem (I Am Woman) that has lasted until now.

"Her husband managed to completely destroy her at one part of her life and then she comes back."

Nikki is well and truly a Taree local. Her family settled the area, she was born and educated in Taree, and Harry Bennett Park was named after her father.

Although she is frequently travelling the world, and no longer lives here, she still comes 'home' occasionally to see her mother.

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Nikki said she was born to be a singer. Although frequently entering the Taree and District Eisteddfod, she never had a singing teacher. Her father, a "massive" opera fan, taught her to sing by putting records of Barbra Streisand and Shirley Bassey on the turntable and telling her to "sing like that".

"And I always just did," she laughs.

"I don't think that would have worked with everybody."

While at university in Sydney studying law, Nikki had a major win in the prestigious Australian Singing Competition. She did cabaret shows in South East Asia, and signed a record deal in Melbourne.

In 1991 she was cast as Susan in the Australian production of Hair, and this was followed by regular television appearances as a guest performer on variety and morning shows. She has acted in film and television, appearing in All Saints and as a lead character in Out of the Blue.

Invincible - The Helen Reddy Story is on at the Manning Entertainment Centre on Sunday, August 14 from 2pm. To book go to mec.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/Home on call the MEC on 6592 5466.

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