Viva Forever (musical)

Viva Forever!
Promotional poster
Music	Various Artists
Lyrics	Various Artists
Book	Jennifer Saunders
Basis	Compilation of songs recorded by the Spice Girls
Productions	West End: 11 Dec 2012 – 29 June 2013

Viva Forever! was a jukebox musical written by Jennifer Saunders, produced by Judy Craymer and directed by Paul Garrington.

Based on the songs of the Spice Girls, a British pop girl group formed in 1994, the show began previews at the Piccadilly Theatre, London, on 27 November 2012 and had its Press Night on 11 December 2012 and features some of the group's biggest hit songs including "Wannabe", "Spice Up Your Life" and the eponymous "Viva Forever".

Viva Forever! received some of the worst reviews of 2012 (and "arguably of all time") and it was announced on 2 May 2013 that the show was to close on 29 June 2013 after only seven months with a loss of "at least £5 million". It was replaced at the Piccadilly Theatre by the musical Dirty Dancing from 13 July 2013.

The musical is based on a band member named Viva who lives on a houseboat. The story starts when her band gets through to the audition stages of a TV show. The band get through multiple rounds of the auditions, but on the final round, Viva gets through, without her band mates. As Viva follows her dreams, Viva Forever! charts her journey into the world of overnight celebrity and its impact on her mother and the friends she thought she’d have forever.

In 2010, Judy Craymer teamed up with Geri Halliwell, Simon Fuller (the one-time manager of the Spice Girls) and Universal Music to start developing a musical entitled Viva Forever!, based on the songs of the Spice Girls. Although the Spice Girls themselves were not to be in the show, they were to influence the show's cast and production choices in a story which uses their music but bears no relation to their personal story. This approach is similar to that of ABBA's music in Mamma Mia!, a show which Craymer produced and helped turn into a global phenomenon. In August 2010, it was reported that Jennifer Saunders would be writing the script. Saunders had twice previously worked with the group: the first time, appearing in the Comic Relief version of the "Who Do You Think You Are" video, the second, making a cameo appearance in the 1997 feature film Spice World.