It dominated TV ratings for a decade and devotees continued to take joy in catching the reruns after the show ceased to be in 2004 – can it really be that long ago? Now you can get your latest fix of Friends in a brand new production, running at Hull New Theatre this week.
Friends! The Musical Parody opened in the city last night. Billed as “the one where they sing”, from a more local perspective, I would describe it as “the one where Hull gets reacquainted with all ten series of Friends in the space of two hours”.
It is a whirlwind of song and dialogue, with plenty of laughs, and clever references to the standout sitcom moments from the mega-run of “the one when…” episodes that first began to air in 1994.
I recognised most of the major storylines interpreted by the musical – there might have been some more nuanced stuff that passed me by – but I found it all very entertaining and had a good giggle. For anyone who has never seen Friends, though, I don’t think it would make a lot of sense.
Featuring an entirely original musical score, the show follows the escapades of the world’s most famous group of twenty-somethings – Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe – as they navigate love, friendship, and life’s ups and downs in 1990s New York City.
The cast members who play the lead characters – Eva Hope, Jared Thompson (understudy for Enzo Benevuti at the show last night), Alicia Belgarde, Daniel Parkinson, Ronnie Burden and Amelia Atherton, ordered as per the line-up above – were faithful to their alter-egos and splendidly exaggerated those mannerisms and speech inflections to humorous effect. Well done, wardrobe, too for the authentic outfits, and to the props people.
Parkinson was a particularly good Chandler, in my opinion, and also surprising as Janice… that laugh! And I wondered what Jennifer Aniston would have thought of Hope’s portrayal of her, so accurate I had to keep double-checking, even with the extra mickey-taking that the musical brings to her role.
They all had their wonderful moments in the spotlight and must have all studied their characters to the nth degree. And good ole Gunther (Edward Leigh) finally gets to be part of the Central Perk gang in this parody.
The songs are often funny, momentarily tender, and include Central Perk Tango, How You Doin’, Smelly Mom and The Ballad of Fat Monica. Chick and Duck is a sweet treat with some extra puppet characters brought into the mix, and Marcel the monkey has his five (probably fewer) minutes of fame.
If you are a super-fan of Friends, you will knock the warm-up stuff (Edward Leigh again), house lights up, out of the park. The opening night audience was pretty clued up so there were obviously plenty of enthusiasts in.
Friends! The Musical Parody comes from the producers of Hairspray and the director of the Full Monty. The show contains flashing lights, haze, confetti, loud noises, sexual references and adult humour and comes with an age guidance of 13-plus.
It is running nightly at Hull New Theatre until Saturday, March 7, with two performances on Friday and Saturday.