Viva Forever! to end after six-month West End run and critical mauling
When it launched in December, the Spice Girls musical Viva Forever! seemed to have much in its favour – the writer of Absolutely Fabulous, the producer of the smash hit Mamma Mia! and the songs of one of the most successful girl bands of all time.
But there are, it turns out, only so many ways to spice up a turkey. After a troubled six-month run – and some of the most caustic reviews in recent West End history – the show's producers announced on Thursday that it was to close. Not so much Viva Forever! as Stop Right Now, thank you very much.
Judy Craymer, the producer whose track record with the Abba vehicle Mamma Mia! had led many to expect great things from the show, said the decision had been taken "with a heavy heart".
Band member Mel C tweeted: "Absolutely devastated our wonderful show is closing. Thank you to our brilliant cast and everybody who made the show so incredible."
The musical, written by comedian Jennifer Saunders, used the hits of Sporty, Ginger et al to soundtrack the fictional story of a girl band struggling to make it in an X-Factor-style TV show. Craymer called it "a contemporary story that truly reflects our time" and said audiences had given the show a standing ovation every night.
The group's five original members had attended the premiere – even if Victoria Beckham for one seemed less than happy to be there – and as a so-called "jukebox musical", based around songs the audience already knew, the show also had the advantage of a ready-made potential audience of nostalgic Spice Girls fans.
But it never recovered from its critical savaging, despite a number of rewrites and overhauls, and in the end, Craymer admitted: "We just can't make it work." Viva Forever! will say Goodbye My Friend for the last time on 29 June.
It's an abrupt comedown for Craymer. Mamma Mia! opened in 1999 and became one of the one of the most successful musicals in history, seen by 54 million people and grossing more than £1.2bn worldwide, with a successful movie spinoff in 2008. If she was hoping with Viva Forever! to replicate a formula that has made her a personal fortune in the tens of millions, the critics had other ideas.
"Three hours of tedious cliché, amateur dramatics and endless yowling," was the verdict of the Sunday Times. The Independent on Sunday complained about the musical's "jaw-droppingly witless script". Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph called it "tawdry, lazy, unedifying" and a "ghastly mistake", while another reviewer at the same paper declared that is was "so bad, it ought, if there were any justice, to be accorded a minus-star rating. This show is not just bad, it is definitively, monumentally and historically bad."
Terrible reviews do not always kill a show – both Wicked and We Will Rock You were panned when they opened but have been packing in audiences by the millions for more than a decade. Some shows, such as the U2-penned rock musical Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, may even have benefitted from the critics' disdain. Though it was trashed as an unprecedented stinker before it even opened, it is now thriving, and holds the record for the highest single-week gross in Broadway history.
"Prior to opening [Viva Forever!] had a really strong advance, and there was a great buzz around it," says Terri Paddick, managing and editorial director of Whatsonstage.com.
"There were so many elements that seemed to go in its favour, not least Judy Craymer having been proved to have the Midas touch with Mamma Mia! It had a ready-made potential audience of women who are now of an age where they can afford West End tickets. It could have been fantastic – but hindsight is 20:20, isn't it."
She thinks that as a jukebox musical, one of the show's apparent advantages may have been part of its problem. "Very often a fanbase has a fixed idea of how they want to see their songs presented, but the problem with Viva Forever! is that the songs didn't really lend themselves to the musical context of the story."
In addition, she says, despite their 80m record sales, there was always the question of whether the Spice Girls' back catalogue was really strong enough to carry a musical. "When you delve into it, you have to weigh up just how many very popular songs there were.
"But at the end of the day, a musical is such a massive undertaking, there are so many elements, and even if you get a lot of those elements right, the whole is never going to be the same as its various creative parts. It just didn't come together, and I don't know why."
The writer Peter Michael Marino created Desperately Seeking Susan – The Musical! for the London stage in 2007 only to see the show – based on the Madonna film but featuring the music of Blondie – fold within a month. He is currently presenting a one-man show in the West End based on the ignominy of his previous flop. He says that, with the advantage of an established score, coming up with a successful musical requires "the perfect storm of timing, talent and tenacity".
What had Viva Forever! got wrong? "It seemed as if they were relying on the popularity of the band's music to sell tickets, and perhaps it needed a stronger or more original story."
All the same, he acknowledges: "I didn't get it right so I can't very well give advice."
Hits … and misses
Mamma Mia!
Set to the music of Abba. Continuously running since its 1999 London premiere. A young woman on a Greek island is planning her wedding and wants her father to walk her down the aisle. But which of her mother's former partners is he? Seen by 54 million people. Estimated box office take of £1.2bn.
We Will Rock You
Ben Elton's musical to songs of Queen. Continuously running since London premiere in 2002. Some 13m tickets sold worldwide.
Jersey Boys: The Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Seen by 14 million people worldwide since 2005 Broadway premiere. Fifty-five major awards worldwide, including four Tonys and an Olivier award for best musical.
Our House
Based on the songs of Madness. Original West End run closed after 10 months. Won Olivier award for best musical. Revived in 2008, with a one-off performance in 2012.
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