Nualas come west for a night of dignity

All-female comedy singing sensations, The Nualas come to The Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick for One Night of Dignity this weekend, and will play their first Ennis gig in Glór this April.
In a world where pop stars think nothing of singing in their underwear, The Nualas buck the trend by sporting proper, yet unbelievably glamorous, and shiny, stage attire.
The Nualas are made up of Sue Collins, Anne Gildea and Maria Tecce. Last year the trio reformed on The Late Late Show where they performed their debut song Yummy Mummy Recession Blues. They went on to storm festivals and venues alike.
The Nualas were founded in the mid-1990s when Anne met Sue and over the years they have developed their own original self-penned numbers, scintillating vocal harmony, ambitious choreography along with laughter, tears, and chat.
“We were both doing comedy at the time. I was doing stand up and Sue was doing comedy improv and she was an actress. That’s how we met. We got it together by accident at a party when we started singing and after we said let’s do something and it grew out of that.
“In this line-up we decided we wanted to get it back together but we were quickly going into a tour so we needed someone who could do the music and the comedy, and take it all on board.
“It’s very hard to find and the woman we work with is Maria Tecce from Boston and she has a jazz influence from doing solo shows and she is very theatrical. She said she’d like to have a go, and as soon as we started working with her we said she was the person,” Anne Gildea said.
The Nualas were continuously touring up until 2011 when Anne was diagnosed with cancer and underwent treatment.
“I had my operation in December 2011 so we were off the road for four months and we will be off the road again in the summer because I’ll be having my reconstruction surgery. Given the way it goes, we will be back on the road in September.
“It’s so great to be doing something funny, that’s one thing that people always say that it’s so great to have a laugh, especially in the times that are in it. I think that’s why we are doing so well. It’s just a really joyous show and great fun. That’s what people want at the moment for all sorts of reasons and I’ve found it very positive and funny to be involved. The craic is mighty. We’ve got outrageous new shows,” Anne said.
She added that now that The Nualas have been around the block and have ‘grown up’ the show has become much funnier.
“We were all in our 20s when we started and we find it so much funnier now that we’ve all been round a bit. We are all in our forties now,” she said.
She also admitted that the West of Ireland is where The Nualas are most at home. “Our Nualas are all based on the West of Ireland influence. The West coast is the spiritual home of the Nualas. It’s that really earthy mad Irish woman thing. It’s that wild Irish thing that is not one bit conservative. Anything could happen, and we are really comfortable in our skin and that’s the vibe of it. It’s that thing of being of a certain age and not giving a shite,” she said.
The Nualas show will perform many of their favourites such as Manolo alongside fabulous all-new classics, including: Sexy Farm Song; Jesus, Mary and Joseph why am I so fat; and the roof raising ballad Finn, which is based on an ancient Irish love story, that they made up.
“It’s the basic Nuala show, it’s song and chat. We’ve got a new song about weight and that is going extremely well and we have a new song about a stay at home dad and that’s going very well at the moment too. One of our old songs that we can’t drop is our holiday song about a holiday romance that goes wrong and that’s called Manolo.” Anne explained.
The Nualas show goes on stage in Limerick’s Lime Tree Theatre on Saturday, March 2 at 8pm.
Meanwhile The Nualas come to Glór on April 13 at 8pm and more details are available on the website. The show is suitable for all age groups.