Critics savage Spice Girls stage musical

The critics have spoken - "Viva Forever" did not spice up their lives.





A celebrity-studded audience that included soccer star David Beckham - there with wife Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham and sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz - gave the show an opening-night standing ovation Tuesday at London's Piccadilly Theatre.






Refreshing as it is to see a musical built around female friendship and mother-daughter bonds, some audience members might have reflected that the real-life story of the Spice Girls - their rise from obscurity to global fame, subsequent fallout and varied solo careers - is richer and more interesting than the show's feel-good plot.


But some felt that aside from a few hits - "Wannabe," "Stop," "Who Do You Think You Are?" - the band's catalogue was not strong enough to support a two-and-a-half hour show.



Others felt the script, by comedian Jennifer Saunders - co-creator of celebrity-skewering sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous" - was surprisingly un-funny.





All five attended Tuesday's premiere - although Beckham arrived later than the others, and sat apart from them in the theater.

On the red carpet before the show, Melanie Chisholm - "Sporty Spice" - said she was not afraid of critics' verdict.

"If people criticize it, we don't care - because we love it," she said.

Jill Lawless can be reached at