Review: Wannabe: The Spice Girls Story

If you go to Wannabe with an open mind, warmed up vocal chords and a belly full of drink, you’re sure to have a night to remember, with even the most reluctant audience member giving into the cheesiness and dancing in the aisles. Imagine it’s just big budget karaoke.

Dopplegangers (well, if you squint a bit) of the world’s bestselling girl band strut on stage, with a set of lit-up letters spelling out S-P-I-C-E in case we forget who this is a tribute to. They’ve put Baby in the corner for tonight's performance, as Lucy Claire pulls out of the dance routines due to injury. Propped on a stool to the side, she grins through the pain as the drunk-dad-at-the-party voiceover tells us she “zig-a-zig-ah-ed” a bit too much in rehearsal. So begins the ultimate call-and-response song, met with a giant cheer, and we’re off.

The cast pull out an endless barrage of bangers, almost tricking us into dancing with how hideously catchy each song is. When Geri leaves, they bring on two dancers and “spice boys” to distract us from how bad the Girls’ solo careers were. Soon we’re back to the good old hits and by this point not even the performers can top the energy of the hen do behind us. 

The choreography may not extend much further than pushing a lot of invisible air around, the acoustics may make the singers sound a bit distant, and the whole show might feel faker than Posh’s well-wishing before the band’s most recent tour, but Wannabe is so much fun, a lot can be forgiven.