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"Jennifer Saunders has responded to poor reviews of Spice Girls musical Viva Forever!, dismissing the critics as &amp;quot;middle-aged men&amp;quot;. The show received scathing write-ups from various publications at the beginning of its run.  &amp;gt; Digital Spy&amp;#039;s Viva Forever! review: Spice Girls musical needs more zig-a-zig-ah Asked about the criticism, the Absolutely Fabulous star replied: &amp;quot;So the critics - five middle-aged men - didn&amp;#039;t like it. If you send your dad to see Viva Forever! on his own, then of course he&amp;#039;s going to hate it. It was no surprise.&amp;quot; Producer Judy Craymer also defended the musical, asserting that it has had an enthusiastic response from audiences, and set out her long-term vision for the project. Photo gallery - the Spice Girls at the Viva Forever! opening:  &amp;quot;We want to get it out to Broadway - that&amp;#039;s the plan,&amp;quot; the London Evening Standard quotes her as saying. &amp;quot;There are talks in progress. Japan and Asia also want it. &amp;quot;We just want to make sure we have the product right in London first. The critics were always going to give us a hard time, but the truth is it&amp;#039;s sold out until June. Feedback from audiences has been amazing. Spice Girls fans are loving every minute.&amp;quot; She added: &amp;quot;Yes, it&amp;#039;s been hard - but just like any show is hard to start from scratch and launch on the West End.&amp;quot;  Watch a launch video for Viva Forever! below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/news/a457546/jennifer-saunders-responds-to-spice-girls-show-viva-forever-critics/>