Spice Girls are back, and now they are a musical

By STEPHEN McGINTY
Published on 27/06/2012 01:17

THEY took the pop world by storm in the 1990s with their unique brand of Girl Power. Now the Spice Girls are back to challenge the giants of West End theatre with a new musical based on their hits.

s Geri Halliwell, once “Ginger Spice”, now, at 39, practically middle-aged, announced: “I could not have imagined when we were writing the lyrics ‘zig-a-zig-ah’ that it would end up in a West End show.”

The five Spice Girls were reunited in public for the first time in four years yesterday at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London where, in 1996, they shot the video for their first single Wannabe.

Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell were joined by Jennifer Saunders, the comedian, who has written the script for the West End musical Viva Forever.

The show is being produced by Judy Craymer, behind Mamma Mia!, the hit show based on the songs of Abba. Viva Forever is the latest in a line of so-called “jukebox musicals” that use popular songs to tell a new story.

The show tells the story of a beautiful, talented girl and her best friends who get swept up in the obsession of today’s TV celebrity culture. The girl, Viva, enters a TV talent competition with her friends, but only she wins.

The producers say: “The musical charts her journey into the world of overnight fame and its impact on her relationships with her mother and the friends she thought she’d have forever.”

Bunton, 36, said: “To be working with a producer who we wanted from the start is amazing. For her to say ‘yes’ is incredible. As for the lovely Jennifer, she has been around with us for years and is incredible, and we feel very lucky to have them both.

“This is mostly for our fans. They have been so supportive. My little boy does not know who we are so I can’t wait until he sees what mum does.”

Beckham, 38, dressed in a sleek all-black ensemble with trademark towering heels, said: “I think that we are going to be introducing a whole new generation to girl power.

“What we do as individuals is empower women and together we are so excited about the whole thing.”

Halliwell brushed aside rumours of tensions between the group, adding: “These girls, they are amazing and brilliant and kind. Every time I see them – and I don’t see them that often – they are independently really lovely and I am really grateful to have good friends like these.”