BABY Spice dashed into Southampton last night to show her support for an old school friend who was taking to the boards of a city theatre.

Emma Bunton turned up at the city's Mayflower Theatre to enjoy the opening night of the hit West End musical Boogie Nights, starring her best friend Mazz Murray in the leading female role.

The pair have been friends from school and Emma was determined to be on hand when Mazz, 24, first took to the stage as Debs along-side co-star Shane Richie.

Just quarter of an hour before the curtains were due to go up Emma, who was dressed in a black shirt and black trousers, was chauffeur driven to the Mayflower's stage door where she was greeted by Mazz's sister Gina.

After the show the pair joined other cast and family and friends at a special celebration party at the city's Chicago Rock Caf where they enjoyed themselves into the early hours of the morning.

"I came down tonight especially to see Mazz in the show. The show was fantastic and she was the best," said Emma after the performance.

But the Spice Girl was not the only celebrity on hand to turn up for the first night of the breath-taking stage musical which runs in the city for the next two weeks.

Michael Barrymore and Bill Maynard, alias Claude Greengrass from Heartbeat, were also on hand to support friends involved in the production.

"I have come along for the show's producer who is a very old friend of mine," said Michael Barrymore.

"We have known each other for ten years and he produced all the Barrymore shows," he added.

Bill Maynard meanwhile is a friend of the mother of the show's director Jon Conway.

After the show Shane Richie said he was delighted with how it had gone.

"It was fantastic and beyond our expectations. It was great to see Emma and Michael here, they are all mates of mine and it was great them com-ing along and supporting it," he said.

The celebrities joined more than 2,000 other people at the show's opening night. It runs in Southampton until September 4.

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