Updated with second video at June 26, 2012, 2.04 p.m. GMT

Victoria Beckham joined her fellow Spice Girls—Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton and Melanie Chisholm—to launch their new musical, Viva Forever, today at the St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel.
   The venue for the launch is where the video for ‘Wannabe’, which marked the Spice Girls’ début, was filmed. ‘Wannabe’ was released 16 years ago today.
   It is the first appearance of all five Spice Girls since a comeback tour in 2007–8.
   The new musical has been penned by comedienne Jennifer Saunders, based on an idea by Judy Craymer, producer of Mamma Mia!, which had been based on ABBA songs.
   Viva Forever is a similar “jukebox musical”, which takes a group’s hits and strings them together with a storyline. Saunders has opted for a TV talent contest setting.
   According to the producers, it tells ‘the story of a beautiful, talented girl and her best friends who get swept up in the obsession of today’s TV celebrity culture.’
   The musical ‘charts her journey into the world of overnight fame and its impact on her relationships with her mother and the friends she thought she’d have forever.’
   Paul Garrington, who has staged international productions of Mamma Mia! and Dirty Dancing, will direct.
   It opens at the Piccadilly Theatre on December 11, the same day as The Bodyguard musical, based on the Whitney Houston film. opens at the Adelphi. Previews begin at the Piccadilly on November 27.
   All five members of the group were heavily involved in Viva Forever.