For me, the 2012 Olympics were the best I’d seen in my life, not because the opening ceremony was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, the queen made her grand entrance via parachute, and it was totally awesome, Ryan Lochte broke world records or even because the athletes were looking particularly fine. Nope, it was because the Spice Girls sang (insert British accent) “Wannabe” at the closing ceremony.
Now, my personal love of the Spice Girls is different from most girls. I actually wasn’t a huge fan as a child when the Spice Girls were at their peak around 1998. My true love for them started in high school. I know it’s weird and kind of pathetic. But there’s a long, boring reason for that I won’t get into.
Anyways, I LOVE the Spice Girls. There is no problem too big that hearing “Wannabe” can’t solve for me. Some people eat ice cream when stressed; I listen to the magic that is “Wannabe.”
So, you can understand why I was pretty pumped when I heard in 2012 that the Spice Girls were coming back in musical form. While Baby, Sporty, Scary, Ginger and Posh don’t appear in the show, their music does, including hits “Who do you think you are,” “2 Become 1” and “Wannabe,” and that’s enough for me. I thought, how could “Viva Forever” not become one of the world’s most popular musicals?!
I thought it would be the kind of the show that goes down in history as one of the best shows of our time. I thought “Viva Forever” would see revival after revival for the next 40 years. I mean when you compare the story of a girl who’s thrust into the world of fame and fortune she thought she always wanted via a TV talent show, only to discover the spotlight isn’t what she thought it was with the biblical tale of Joseph that encourages dreaming big and overcoming hardships, it totally compares! Well, kind of… Regardless, the musical should be huge.
But unfortunately, the last show will be on June 29 after it opened seven months ago in London because of an at least 5 million pound loss. This means people aren’t buying tickets and don’t understand the true magic of the Spice Girls and their music.
All of this left to me wonder, what kind of twisted person doesn’t want to see a Spice Girls musical? At first I was at a loss; I couldn’t fathom who would say “‘Viva Forever’? Nah, that sounds stupid. I don’t want to see that.” But then I thought, the Spice Girls don’t thrill men like they do women, but then I remembered men don’t like musicals, period.
So, I thought some more. And I decided that the women buying tickets to musicals are typically not college students and 20-somethings, and I think that’s the demographic that loves the Spice Girls. So my conclusion is that while “Viva Forever” didn’t make it this time around, it would be successful in 25-30 years when our generation is older. I’m going to write to the director ASAP to share my idea.
So, until then, my fellow Spice Girls lovers.
