Viva Forever! to close early on 29th June #VivaNotForever
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London Theatre Direct
Cast of Viva Forever! notified last night that the critically-panned musical will close early at a reported loss of £5 million.
In just eight weeks time, the Daily Mail reports, the final curtain will fall on the on-going saga that is Viva Forever, at a loss of at least £5 million.
Viva Forever cast members were informed about the early closure on Wednesday, as they came off stage.
Viva Forever, featuring songs by the Spice Girls, was slated by critics upon its opening, and received equally lukewarm responses from fans and audiences alike.
From its glitzy (and expensive) opening at the
Piccadilly Theatre, where perhaps
Victoria Beckham's decidedly late arrival, though criticised at the time, might well have been a deliberate move to distance Brand Beckham from the musical, Viva Forever has been struggling.
Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm and Emma Bunton have all been on hand to support the Jennifer Saunders musical, but no amount of Spice and expensive advertising has managed to turn the tide...
Ultimately, it wasn't the critics that killed Viva Forever, but the damaging effect of social media and word of mouth.
Despite being extraordinarily successful in producing Mamma Mia!, it seems that it wasn't second time lucky for Judy Craymer with Viva Forever! A number of quick edits and rewrites and rejigging of the musical numbers hasn't managed to resuscitate the musical.
We would like to send our best wishes to the cast and crew of Viva Forever and wish them all the success in the future.