Viva Forever! (The Spice Girls Musical) @ Piccadilly Theatre - April 17, 2013
Right from the start, the musical began with a slightly fun but more chaotic mess of contestants attempting to become the next star. With so much happening and so many voices, it got confusing and I did not know who to watch. Eventually, what were supposed to be semi-replicas of the Spice Girls were chosen. The chosen girls obviously did not fit into the Spice Girls mold completely, which was most likely intentional, and the Spice Girls do not even fit into the ‘moral story’ that the musical seemed to hint at. If Viva Forever! is supposed to be about the tension between staying true to oneself versus becoming a manufactured pop star, then the Spice Girls may not be the best example in the first place.
In addition, the plot simply did not match the songs well enough, and I think they definitely could have better adapted the plot to follow to songs. Although choppy in the beginning and quite cliché, the second half seemed to be more cohesive and the plot line flowed much more smoothly and the transitions were smoother as well. However, it still seems almost as if they took a simple, cliché plot and threw some Spice Girls songs in rather than adapting to plot to the songs. Moreover, the comic moments were awkwardly interrupted by (what should have been) soft, warm hearted songs or, vice versa, those warm hearted songs were interrupted with awkward gestures which could have been quite funny otherwise.
I should also note that Viva and the other ‘Eternity’ members, may have had great voices; however, with the blaring music it was so difficult to hear them and even impossible at some points.
Overall, even though it was in a word, a mess, I did happen to enjoy some bits and crack smile every now and again. However, I think sitting at home watching Hollyoaks and eating ice cream in my pajamas could have spiced up my life more than that musical.