Aylesbury Waterside – until Saturday 22nd November 2025
Reviewed by Rachel Clark
4****
A great Nostalgia show
I am not a Friends fan, having grown up with the popular sitcom on the TV for 10 seasons and never watching one episode I wondered how I would relate to the show and if I would enjoy it, I went with a friend who was a huge fan and I believe had seen all episodes and was regular laughing. I was sceptical but I enjoyed it and from the laughter and audience participation so did the rest of the audience. On talking to some audience members at the interval not all had seen the show in the past, but it didn’t matter.
This show is all the most memorable bits sifted out and combined into one episode as such and put to music. It was fast and busy, the cast all singing at the same time all with different tones. The concept is playfully innovative, with the theatregoers as the studio audience and Friends being filmed on stage in front of us. With the energy of the musical explosively ignited by audience participation right from the start. from the stalls, picking out a few individuals much the the laughter of the rest of the audience and glad you weren’t picked on! Edward Leigh played the role of the warm-up guy (Kip) and he sets the bar for what continues to be a fun-fuelled, side-splitting, tongue in cheek jokes and comments about the six Friends people all knew and apparently loved in the 1990’s.
With the hype on it being a big performance, the sets were quite minimal, but the worked really well and the show makes no secret of moving things around, with actors doubling as crew and tape markings fluorescing under the occasional UV lighting. This made it feel like you were part of a live studio audience, which I thought was good.
Even though I hadn’t seen the TV show I knew of the characters, and Rachel Green played by Eva Hope looked form the distance like Jennifer Aniston the attention to detail in characterisation, physicality and mannerism that created almost like-for-like and her voice had clarity along with Phoebe played by Amelia Atherton who was a loveable character. Monica was played by Alicia Belgrade and was really good but for me the clarity in the voice wasn’t quite there, I often didn’t fully hear what was said or sung all of the time, but she was still great and you could sense was having fun playing the character.
Gunther (played also by Edward Leigh (5 roles in total he played) always on the side lines with discerning humour and wit and his yellow (blonde) wig to me was a Trump wig, that kept making me giggle every time he was on stage.
FRIENDS – The Musical Parody my friend advised had beautifully captured every iconic moment from the beloved sitcom observationally accurate and funny songs.
The set staged all of the classic backdrops including the girls and guys’ apartments and Central Perk which was cleverly actioned with comic timing and prop use supporting the key storylines.
FRIENDS! The Musical Parody captures the feelings the original TV show set in the 1990’s whilst seamlessly including new up to date humour, musicality and the occasional boundary-pushing commentary to create a great musical.
A must see for any Friends fan looking to reminisce, have a good laugh and to see their favourite characters and TV moments again in a singing and dancing show but I still would also recommend the show if you haven’t seen Friends before to see 10 seasons in a few hours!, I am glad I didn’t miss out just because I failed to watch the TV sitcom.