Spice Girls Olympics Reunion Could Boost Tourism Through New Musical 'Viva Forever'
The Spice Girls are hotter than ever following their show-stopping reunion performance at the London Olympics closing ceremony, and British tourism officials are hoping the skyrocketing fanfare will send a new wave of visitors to the country.
An estimated 300 million viewers watched the '90s girl group sing their hits "Wannabe" and "Spice Up Your Life" at the ceremony on Sunday Aug. 12 and just a day later, VisitBritain started telling tourists about all the ways they can see first-hand all the things they loved about the Olympics.
At the top of the list: the new jukebox musical "Viva Forever," which uses Spice Girls songs to tell the tale of a musician named Viva who follows her dreams of superstardom.
"Viva Forever" opens in London's West End on Nov. 27, and its all-star pedigree goes beyond Scary, Sporty, Ginger, Baby and Posh. The musical was written by Jennifer Saunders, famous for creating the hit British comedy "Absolutely Fabulous," and produced by Judy Cramer, who worked on arguably the most famous jukebox musical - the ABBA-based "Mamma Mia!"
VisitBritain's hopes that the Spice Girls reunion will boost tourism doesn't seem too far fetched. Their closing ceremony performance drew more tweets than any other Olympic event - a record 116,000 tweets per minute. That's significantly more than the 80,000 tweets per minute that came during Jamaican track star Usain Bolt's gold medal-winning 200-meter sprint.
The Spice Girls' star power is so vast that more than a decade after their original formation, fans and online columnists have been calling for a more permanent reunion. Until then, "Viva Forever" will have to suffice.
