West End Wednesday: VIVA FOREVER!

Viva Forever! is a 2012 West End musical, that uses the music of British girl group ‘The Spice Girls’. The show tells the story of a young girl called Viva, who lives on a houseboat with her mother. When Viva enters a televised reality show as part of a band, but in the final stages is selected as a solo artist, she has to come to terms with the price that comes with instant fame and how it affects her relationships with her mother, former bandmates and friends. 

The musical began development in 2010 when Mamma Mia! producer Judy Craymer teamed up with Simon Fuller (who once managed The Spice Girls), Geri Halliwell and Universal Music. The band members had an active role in influencing the cast and production of the show however, all of the narrative arcs were created for this production. A promotional event took place a month before the show’s opening, when all the band members attended a press conference at the St Pancras, Renaissance Hotel where they had filmed the music video to their hit song ‘Wannabe’ 16 years earlier. 

The musical, with a book by comedian Jennifer Saunders, opened for previews at the Piccadilly Theatre on 27 November 2012. The cast included Hannah John-Kamen as Viva, Sally Ann Triplett as her mother Lauren, Siobhan Athwal as Luce, Lucy Phelps as Diamond and Dominque Provost-Chalkley as Holly. The musical opened with a set list of 21 songs from the band’s back catalogue, as well as ‘I Turn To You’ and ‘Look At Me’ from Mel C and Geri Halliwell’s (respectively) solo efforts. Despite the show having taken over £2 million at the box office before opening, the show was universally disliked my critics who blamed Saunders’ book and an incoherent and poorly put together show. Despite multiple reworks to the show over its seven-month run, the decision was made to close it on 29 June 2013 at a loss of around £5 million. The production was directed by Paul Garrington, with choreography by Lynne Page, set design by Peter McKintosh, sound design by Bobby Aitken and lighting design by Howard Harrison. 

Alas, due to its short run and lack of commercial success, a cast recording was never produced! Here’s some footage from the show Besties, did any of you get to ‘Spice up your life’? I wish I had! Viva Forever! was by no means perfect but sometimes, don’t we all just need a silly night out?

FACTS:

Music: Various
Lyrics: Various
Book: Jennifer Saunders 

Theatre: The Piccadilly Theatre
Run: 27 November 2012 - 29 June 2012 (around 16 previews and 230 regular performances)