Spice Girls Musical Coming This Fall

The Spice Girls made a major announcement yesterday: they are bringing their act to London’s Picadilly Theatre late this fall.  The “Viva Forever” show is being produced by Judy Craymer who you may know as the woman who created a worldwide frenzy with the ABBA musical “Mamma Mia.”  It was written by Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame.

The plot is pretty simple and predictable – it’s a tale of female friendship and fame set to the music of the Spice Girls. The drama will surround the group as they enter a TV talent show which strains their relationship. Could be interesting.

"It's better than we could ever have imagined," said Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm of the show.  Melanie “Scary Spice” added: "They sing it better than us." Well, that was to be expected, right?  I love the Spice Girls but they certainly weren’t winning any awards for their vocal gymnastics…

The whole group came together for the announcement at a sentimental setting – the magnificent hotel where they filmed the video for their 1996 #1 hit “Wannabe.”

I really can’t decide how I think this is going to go. I know that “Mamma Mia” was a success but ABBA had been around a lot longer than the Spice Girls and their songs have a different spirit to them. They are easy to sing along and can be used a bit more generically than the Spice Girls tracks. 

"Viva Forever" previews from November 27^th and then officially opens on December 11, 2012.