754 replies to this topic

[Jon]

KevinUK, on 02 December 2012 - 08:51 PM, said:

Well in fairness then, that's a testament to the quality of the show and the songs - I suspect many people see Mamma Mia who aren't familiar with all/many of the songs.

Broadway will definitely happen, but whilst the Spices cracked it, they weren't quite as popular as they were here. But they did a huge sell out tour in 2008, but obviously Broadway is one venue in 1 city. It'll be interesting though!

I would imagine they'll make some changes, Mamma Mia! all they do is change the accents as the settings is just the Greek Island but that may be more tricky for VF.

[*Michael*]

Anyone had any joy getting standing tickets for this?  Are they only sold on the day of show?

[strallenfan]

Saw this last night. Was REALLY disappointed with the show. I disagree with what people have been saying, I think the book IS the problem. It is slow and quite boring in some parts. There is some good comedic supporting characters but I think they are definitely going to need some MASSIVE rewrites to make this work.

Spoiler

My main problem with the book was that I did not root for Viva, she was really unlikable throughout most of the show. I wanted Viva being adopted to resolve in someway or another. I thought that a clever twist (and one I thought they were hinting at) would have been finding out that Viva's biological mum was actually her sharon osbourne esque mentor judge. It would have given more to the story. Also why on EARTH did they make 'I Turn to You' about Botox.

I thought the cast were okay. Disappointed with the four 'main' girls. They weren't THAT great and I thought Viva was the weakest of them.

[jaqs]

Totally agree about the 4 main girls, I had trouble with all their voices and the bad teen tv show acting style.
The ensemble numbers like Spice up your life worked really well but the rest not so much, Mama being very very hard to listen to.
The best parts were 2 become 1 which was hilarious, and the scenes with all the judges together, if theyd concentrated more on the talent show and less on the Mum and her friend and the cut girls it might have worked better.

Strallenfan were people laughing through the viva forever scene because it was so cheesy or was something funny going on that I couldnt see?

[strallenfan]

I have NO idea why they were laughing through VF? It was a bit bizzare.. Also, VF is one of the Spice Girls best songs.. why only have half of it in the show? Goodbye/Mama was a terrible mash up..

I agree on 2 become 1 being a highlight! That was the funniest part for sure.

[timsy99]

Oh Dear.... A real Christmas Turkey, what a terrible script. They seem to have copied Mamma Mia theme in the story line mother daughter looking for her real mother while doing a X Factor type show with a Sharon Osbourne, Simon Cowell characters... but the whole thing is a mess, £55 each & what a waste of money...
Also the closing of both acts are so flat, espically Mama which was sung out of tune last night, mainly by the lead girl...why she got the lead is beyond me her vocals are very weak thoughout... They do a bit of a Spice Girls Mega mix at the end to make people think they have had a good time, but the audience where not fooled last night as the comments on going out where quite bad... also all though the show there was lots of embrassing laughter all in the wrong places...
I went to see The Bodyguard last week although it wasnt great its 10 times better than Viva Forever...
Two good things about the show the Set & Sally Dexter...other than that AVOID
Tim

[holler]

The obvious comparisons are going to be to Mamma Mia, which just highlight how much this show falls short. Agree with Tim's comment about the megamix at the end, in my opinion the audience last night only got to their feet grudgingly through love of the Spice Girls, most people seemed keen to go. There was applause at the (excessively long!) curtain call, but no standing ovation and the audience seemed lost throughout, which considering the buzz there was before the show started was all the more evident.

Really wanted to love this one, but the story was dull, and I really didn't engage with any of the characters. The exception being Viva's mum's best friend who - perhaps intentionally - had a touch of "Patsy" about her and was genuinely very funny, also the poor dumb assistant in the talent show.

I felt frustrated that the songs were continually interrupted by dialogue, long stretches of dialogue which didn't advance the story any, and as soon as you got into a song, they stopped it... GRRR!

Just stay at home and have a dance with your hairbrush to the Spice Girls on Spotify - you'll have more fun ( and it'll be cheaper )

[jaqs]

Agreed the 2nd round of bows when people were already leaving was daft(Scrooge has the same problem), they needed to move straight into the songs after the first round. Very few people got up for the first part of the megamix, which was nice for me, meant I could still see the dancers despite being near the back

[holler]

Lucky you! I had half the stage blocked by an enormous head, which turned into an enormous back during the Megamix, couldn't see a thing even when stood up! What's worse is they blatently wanted to go and weren't dancing or clapping... why stand up!?

Most hilarious part of the night was the sour faced middle aged lady next to me, as soon as the lights when up - "Well, that was very amateurish" ... alright, love. If nothing else the band were fine and the sets were great!

[Ian]

timsy99, on 05 December 2012 - 11:46 AM, said:

... espically Mama which was sung out of tune last night, mainly by the lead girl...why she got the lead is beyond me her vocals are very weak thoughout...

Sounds perfect casting for the Spice Girls then !!