Loose Women's Coleen Nolan to make her Edinburgh acting debut alongside Corrie legend Beverley Callard - here's where to see them

SHE became famous singing with her sisters in The Nolans and is now one of daytime TV’s favourite presenters, but when Coleen Nolan heads to the Capital later this year it will be as an actor in her first ever theatre role.

Coleen Nolan and Beverley Callard in The Thunder Girls

Nolan will star alongside Coronation Street legend Beverley Callard in The Thunder Girls at the EICC from 13-17 October.

The Thunder Girls tells the story of a girl band that splits up and then reunites 30 years later, much like her own band The Nolans. The play, which originally opened in The Lowry, Salford, in September 2019, will find Nolan reprising the role of Anita, which she created.

She says, "I’ve been lucky enough to have been offered several West End shows as well as tours over my career, but never felt ready to take on my first official acting role until I read The Thunder Girls. To be cast in the first line-up of The Thunder Girls with such amazing actresses is a dream come true. I’ve always had terrible stage fright and never had the confidence to star in a play before but I feel I can do Anita justice because I can draw on my past to play her.

Coleen Nolan

"I’m also incredibly inspired by the fact that this play has created roles for women who are fabulous over 50. I am nervous, but Anita was just too delicious to turn down - I can’t wait to play her."

The play, which also features original music and songs, focuses on the ‘the girls night in from hell’, as former lead singer Chrissie Martin, played by ex-EastEnders’ star Carol Harrison, desperate to salvage herself from bankruptcy after being conned out of her fortune by her toy-boy husband, organises a ‘reunion’ dinner, but it’s clear that the main course on the menu is revenge.

Nolan continues, "I’ve lived and breathed the ups and downs of girl band life and I knew as soon as I read the script that this is the real deal. It’s like the ultimate sneak peek behind the velvet curtain of showbiz and what really can go on behind closed doors - to say it’s explosive would be an understatement. The Thunder Girls is a bit like the Christmas day episode of a soap when you wait all year for someone to get their comeuppance. It starts off at a hundred miles an hour and doesn’t stop until the curtain comes down."

Best known as Corrie's Liz McDonald, Callard reprises the role of Roxanne, who holds the balance of power in the reunion summit - but Roxanne’s wounds are the deepest as Chrissie didn’t just steal her career when she broke up the band, she also stole her man, their manager Rick.

The soap star reflects, “Leaving Coronation Street is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make but I just couldn’t miss out on playing Roxanne in The Thunder Girls again. I knew it was something special when I first read the script, but none of us were prepared for the audiences giving it three standing ovations a night. After that we knew we just had to get this show on the road and let more people have the chance to eavesdrop on what is quite literally the Girls Night In From Hell.

"I’m so proud to be in such a rare show with a four strong ensemble of real women with real life experience, especially as so many men in power said for years that this show wouldn’t be a hit because ‘no one was interested in women over 50.’ We certainly showed them. The Thunder Girls is rich in drama, comedy and tragedy... Most important of all, this play is fiercely entertaining and our audiences love it. And I can’t wait to do it all again”.

Producer, Angela Squire, adds, “Following the phenomenal reaction during its record-breaking preview run in at The Lowry, we are thrilled to announce that The Thunder Girls will be hitting theatres all over the UK on its 2020 tour. One of the biggest achievements of The Thunder Girls so far is that almost 80% of our audience were new to the theatre and the art form. We passionately believe that theatre is for everyone and should not be elitist.

"When people who love TV, but think the theatre isn’t for them, come and see The Thunder Girls and have a brilliant night - that’s better than a five star review. It is very exciting that The Thunder Girls is opening theatre doors to a new audience."

Tickets for the Edinburgh run of The Thunder Girls go on sale on 25 February from www.eicc.co.uk/whats-on/the-thunder-girls/