[LATE] Wednesday Buzz: Spice Girls reunite at Viva Forever! Premiere + Oh Say You Won't Be There: Reviews

                                     Source: standard.co.uk via Bianca on Pinterest

This past Tuesday, the Spice Girls reunited in London at the premiere of "Viva Forever!", the musical based on their hit songs. "Viva Forever!" premiered at the London Piccadilly theatre. Written by Jennifer Saunders, the story follows a girl band in an American Idol-styled singing competition. When I first heard about this project, I think the right side of brain jumped for joy at the idea and didn't think about anything else. While the musical has taken in over  £4m in advanced ticket sales, after reading the reviews, I'm not sure if people will still want that ticket.

Photo via Gigwise

It seems as if producer, Judy Craymer didn't have the same luck with "Viva Forever!"as she did with "Mamma Mia!" The Telegraph's Charles Spencer rating the show one star with the words, I'll tell you what I wanted, what I  really really wanted-- I wanted this terrible show to stop" (Guardian). The reviews don't get any better. The Mirror agrees stating "Many of the band's biggest hits have been turned into such dirges they make laughing Leonard Cohen's work seem like the theme tune to the Teletubbies" (Gigwise). Ouch. 

Paul Taylor with The Independent unimpressed  nonetheless, describing the script as "charmless, messy, lacklustre...embarrassingly derivative of Mamma Mia! and looks way past its sell-by date in its utterly surprise-free satiric swipe at the X Factor" (Gigwise). The Mirror ends their review with "Viva Forever  More like clapped-out Vauxhall Viva, five careless owners with far too many miles on the clock" (Gigwise).

According to the Telegraph's review, they suggested that "If you love the Spice Girls stay at home and listen to their greatest hits" (Gigwise).  It's said the show only picks up during the encore, when the cast performed a couple of Spice Girls songs, energetically (Guardian). Oh, what could have been...

Yikes. I guess we can't win them all. Looks like fans should be looking for another way to Spice Up their life, because this musical doesn't sound like a great piece of work.

Sources: Gigwise, Guardian, GossipCop