''Spend Spend Spend'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Steve Brown and Justin Greene and music by Brown. The musical is inspired by the life of

Viv Nicholson Vivian "Viv" Nicholson (nee Asprey; 3 April 1936 – 11 April 2015) was a British woman who became famous when she told the media that she would "spend, spend, spend" after her husband Keith won £152,319 () on the football pools in 1961. Nicho ...

Productions

''Spend Spend Spend'' premiered in 1998 at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and won the Barclays Theatre Award for Best Musical of the Year. The production starred Rosie Ashe and Nigel Richards. After a week of previews, the West End production, directed by

Jeremy Sams Jeremy Sams (born 12 January 1957) is a British theatre director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist. Early life and education Sams is the son of the late Shakespearean scholar and musicologist Eri ...

and choreographed by

Craig Revel Horwood Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom. He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society. Horwood is best ...

, opened on 12 October 1999 at the

Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...

, where it ran until 5 August 2000. The original cast included

Barbara Dickson Barbara Ruth Dickson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include 'I Know Him So Well', 'Answer Me' and ' January February'. Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a ...

, Steven Houghton,

Jeff Shankley Jeffrey Richard Shankley (born 17 November 1947) is a British actor, singer and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company who has had a long career as a television and stage actor particularly in the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber for wh ...

and

Rachel Leskovac Rachel Leskovac (born 5 June 1976) is an English actress and singer. She is known for portraying the roles of Kelly Yorke in the BBC One medical drama series ''Holby City'' (2003–2004), Natasha Blakeman in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Stre ...

. The original London production was arranged by the Musical Director, Dane Preece. Shortly after closing in London, the production, with most of the original cast, went on a UK Tour. The Musical Director for the tour was Steve Hill and the role of Keith was played by Grant Anthony. On 8 July 2009 the

Watermill Theatre The Watermill Theatre is a repertory theatre in Bagnor, Berkshire. It opened in 1967 in Bagnor Mill, a converted watermill on the River Lambourn. As a producing house, the theatre has produced works that have subsequently moved on to the West E ...

, Newbury, presented a revival of the musical, directed by Craig Revel Horwood, with Karen Mann as the older Viv, Kirsty Hoiles as young Viv and Greg Barnett as Keith. The production next had a 7-week tour across the country, beginning 28 September 2010 to 9 November 2010. It was awarded the 2010 TMA award for Best Musical and Kirsty Hoiles (young Viv) was awarded the TMA award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.

Premise

In 1961,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

housewife

won £152,319 in the football pools. When a reporter asked her what she planned to do with her new fortune, she replied, "I'm going to spend, spend, spend!," which is exactly what she did. Her rags-to-riches-to-rags-again story takes her through five husbands, expensive sports cars, fur coats, and jewelry, a battle with alcohol, and bankruptcy as, unable to cope with her new-found wealth and fame, she rapidly spirals downward.

Awards and nominations

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

** Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical (nominee) **Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Dickson, winner) **Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Leskovac, nominee) **Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance In A Musical (Houghton, nominee) **Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director (nominee) **Laurence Olivier Award for Best Choreography (nominee) **Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Design (nominee) **Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Designer (Mark Henderson, winner for multiple productions) *

Evening Standard Award The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standar ...

for Best Musical, 1999 (winner)" Lion King's awards triumph"
bbc.co.uk, 22 November 1999 * Critics Circle Award for Best Musical (winner)

References

{{reflist

External links

Viv Nicholson on Myspace

Webpage for film director/producer John Goldschmidt

1998 musicals West End musicals Musicals inspired by real-life events British musicals