MAUREEN - Denise Nolan - The Official Website

MAUREEN IS CURRENTLY STARRING IN THE UK TOUR OF 'CALENDAR GIRLS'BOOK YOUR TICKETS VIA THIS PAGESCROLL DOWN THE PAGE FOR DATES / VENUES

Maureen Nolan was born in Inchicore, Dublin before moving to England aged eight - she began her singing career the same year! From the very beginning of her life in show business she was known as the ‘pretty one’. Something that although welcome, was not a mask for her undeniable talent. The busy family had always enjoyed one sacred day a year free from work – Christmas Day. In 1973, Tommy Nolan received a call asking the act to appear at a local hotel. He asked the exorbitant fee of £80! When the hotel agreed to the fee the family felt obliged to honour it. Fortunately they did – Joe Lewis, The hotel owner was staying in Blackpool for the holidays and so impressed was he at their performance, he offered them a residency at his new venue, The London Room in London’s West End.

Management at The London Room decided that the Nolan Sisters had more potential than the Singing Nolans and asked their parents to step down. Which they did. Stewart Morris, head of BBC head of light entertainment, brought in choreographer Nigel Lythgoe to create dance routines and new musical arrangements were created with John Coleman and Alyn Ainsworth. With new hair styles and costumes, the girls worked hard to perfect their act. Soon the venue was packed. Stewart Morris invited Cliff Richard to watch their show with a view to including them in the upcoming series of his hit show 'It's Cliff'. Cliff was so impressed with the girls that they were invited to star for the entire series. Overnight the act became a household name. Soon after the series ended the Nolan Sisters appeared on several more TV shows including The Vera Lynn Show and The Harry Secombe Show. The following years saw many more singles and an album released. In 1975 the act was selected to accompany Frank Sinatra on his European Tour. The show played to packed houses in stunning theatres in most European capitals. Just twelve months later the Sisters were in New York supporting Engelbert Humperdinck for a two week run. Almost every TV show invided the Nolan Sisters to make a guest appearace over the next few years Seaside Special,The Shirley Bassey Show, Sez Les, The Tommy Copper Show, Wednesday at Eight, Night Out At The Casino, London Night Out and the complete 1977 series of Vince Hill’s Musical Time Machine.

In 1978 the act released the album 20 Giant Hits - which went on sell more than to half a million copies in the UK alone, resulting in them being awarded Gold Discs. At the same time they were invited to appear in the 1978 Royal Variety Performance and complete two weeks at the London Palladium with Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons before rounding off the year with a season at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon with magician Paul Daniels. The Nolan Sisters even managed to record an entire series of appearances for The Two Ronnies. In 1979 the Nolan Sisters signed to the major label Epic CBS. Whilst performing in their 1979 Summer show the girls recorded their debut Epic album – The Nolan Sisters which rose as high as number three in the charts. After narrowly missing out on the chance to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song contest they released a single on Epic Records – Spirit Body and Soul' which quickly climbed the singles chart. This led to the first of many appearances on Top Of the Pops. The follow up single, was a global smash hit record, and would go on to become their signature tune. I’m In The Mood For Dancing climbed to the top three in the UK and topped the charts in several countries. But it was in Japan that the single would set records that have not been broken to this day. It was the first single in more than 20 years to top both the domestic and international charts in Japan.1979 also saw appearances on the entire series of Mike Yarwood in Persons.

After selling more than half a milliion copies in the UK, The Nolans as they were now called, embarked on their first major UK tour. They also visited Japan for a promotional tour. A lengthy Summer Season in 1980 at Blackpool saw a very hectic year for the girls as they combined recording an album and releasing two more singles.

The next two years saw the Nolans release several more hit records including Don’t Make Waves, Gotta Pull Myself Together, Who’s Gonna Rock You, Attention To Me, Chemistry, Don’t Love Me Too Hard, Crashing Down, Dragonfly and Dressed To Kill. The act was trimmed to a quartet in 1983 when Linda left the group. Maureen made her own Pantomime debut in 1985 and has since appeared in more than 20 of them. In 1990 the Nolans signed to the Panasonic label Teichiku Records in Japan. The deal would see six albums released for the Japanese only market. They were all successful. So successful in fact that the label secured the rights to release previous Nolans albums on CD format that hadn’t been released in the UK. Such was the popularity of the group in Japan. The Nolans flew to Japan to record some of the tracks and carried out two major tours in two years. By now the group had toured Japan an astonishing seven times!

The early 1990s saw Coleen decide to leave the group, followed just a year later by Bernie. Anne and Maureen continued as a duo for the next three years, backed by two female dancers. Bernie and Coleen briefly re-joined the group in 1995 when a re-recording of ‘I’m In the Mood for Dancing’ entered the charts. Anne’s daughter, Amy, joined the act in 1998 along with her friend, Julia. The Nolans as a quartet once again went on to enjoy success on stage in summer season and concert shows. In 2003 Anne and Maureen joined the company of ‘Reelin’ and a Rockin’ a sixties revival show featuring Gerry and The Pacemakers and several well-known hit makers of the area. The girls sang backing vocals for the entire show and entertained audiences with their own tribute to Dusty Springfield.
After the Nolans disbanded in 2005. Maureen successfully auditioned for Willy Russell’s ‘Blood Brothers’ a role she took on the UK National Tour and in London’s West End at the Phoenix Theatre. Maureen was the fourth Nolan to appear in the role, which earned them a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most siblings to have played the same role in a professional production. Something she shares with Linda, Bernie and Denise.
Anne and Maureen went back into the studio in 2005 to record another album for the Japanese Market – The Nolans Sing Momoe 2005.
Maureen took a break from Blood Brothers and was quickly contracted to appear in the first of many stage musicals, 'Girl’s Behind'' The next few years saw Maureen star in an almost unbroken run of stage shows, including; 'Mum’s The Word' 'The Naked Truth' and UK tour of Flashdance.
In 2009 four of the Nolans reformed for a major UK tour. A new album was released featurings songs to be included on the tour and re-recording of their biggest hits, it reached number 22 in the charts. A live recording of the concert was released on DVD making the top ten in the chart. Epic Records released a four album box set for the Japanese market in 2010 ‘All About The Nolans’ .

A planned farewell tour for 2011 was cancelled after Bernie's cancer returned and was confirmed as being terminal.

Maureen re-joined the cast of Blood Brothers, this time, co-starring with Marti Pellow. After this, Maureen appeared in the UK tour of ‘The Eva Cassidy Story - Over the Rainbow'. Maureen was married to Richie Hoyle in 2010. The couple had been together more than 20 years and had a Son, Danny. Sadly the marriage ended in 2017. Danny has gone on to have four beautiful Daughters, Ava, Sienna, Roma and in August 2023 Marlie Francine came along. She landed the role of Vi Moore in a new production of 'Footloose' in which she was top billed alongside Gareth Gates in 2016. Once that show took a break, she was quickly snapped up for the national tour of the comedy musical 'Menopause - The Musical' in 2015. She returned to 'Footloose' for a second run in 2017. Maureen appeared at Blackpool's Opera House in December 2017 in 'Peter Pan - A Musical Adventure' before re-joining 'Menopause - The Musical' for a second time in spring 2018.

Maureen shocked everyone when she had cosmetic surgery in 2018. She revealed the results of her facelift on TV’s Loose Women. Christmas time saw Maureen appearing in Panto at Newcastle before quickly re-joining the 2019 UK and Ireland tour of ‘Menopause the Musical’. The 2019 pantomime saw Maureen at Manchester. TV executives approached four of the Nolans. Maureen, Anne, Linda and Coleen and asked them to star in an eight part reality show filmed on board a new cruise-ship.

For 2020 Maureen was due to star in an Easter Panto at St. Helens, this was cancelled because of the pandemic. The Nolans aso appeared in "All Round To Mrs. Browns".

2020 was also to be a much publicised year for the Nolans, as the country went into lockdown, the Sisters heard that a BBC record label were releasing a three disc box set 'Nolans Gold' featuring songs from 1978-1983. For the first time all six sisters would appear on the front cover of a general album release. Released in October 23rd, the album made the top ten

All the Sisters took part in filming a new show for Quest TV - 'At Home With The Nolans' was a ratings success

The Sisters then filmed the second series of 'The Nolans Go Cruising' which aired i2021 Maureen then starred in UK touring production of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'. After that Maureen headed to stafford where she topped the bill for panto, playing the wicked Queen in Snow White.

In Autumn 2023 she started touring in 'Calandar Girls' along with Marti Webb and Lyn Paul. After a short break in December, Maureen will head to Cannock for a short Panto and return to 'Calendar Girls' in January 2024.

MAUREEN'S LATEST NEWS

21 November – 25 November

DARLINGTON Darlington Hippodrome

28 November – 02 December

HULL Hull New Theatre

2024 TOUR DATES

Please note: Some of the cast shown on the promotional poster above will change for the 2024 tour.

Tues 16th January – Sat 20th January

SALFORD Lowry Theatre

Tues 23rd January – Sat 27th January

BLACKPOOL Opera House

Tues 30th January – Sat 3rd February

BRADFORD Alhambra Theatre

Tues 6th February – Sat 10th February

YORK Grand Opera House

Tues 13th February – Sat 17th February

ABERDEEN His Majesty's Theatre

Tues 20th February – Sat 24th February

GLASGOW King's Theatre

Tues 5th March – Sat 9th March

BATH Theatre Royal

Tues 19th March – Sat 23rd March

AYLESBURY Waterside Theatre

Tues 26th March – Sat 30th March

WOKING New Victoria Theatre

Tues 2nd April – Sat 6th April

NORWICH Theatre Royal

TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR MAUREEN'S FANTASTIC PANTO IN CANNOCK

This year Maureen will head to Cannock in the West Midlands for a short pantomime. Her heavy commitments with the Calendar Girls tour gave limited choice for Maureen to engage in a longer run. Tickets sales are limited and the show has been selling very well - so get in there quick.

SATURDAY 23rd December

2PM Show