"Friends The Musical Parody"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Full disclosure: I've never seen a complete episode of "Friends" in my life. I do however know all of the characters in this American sit-com, so this isn't entirely a new experience for me, although the essence of the storylines of this show is a new one, personally, and many of them are completely lost on me. You really needed to be au fait with all of the in jokes and character foibles to "get" much of the references and comedy.

The show is a musical comedy made up of moments from all ten seasons of the television series. Featuring an original musical score, the show follows the escapades of this group of twenty-somethings; Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe.

The cast have been well picked but it's like being in a waxwork museum that didn't quite get it right (in some of the characters). You knew who they were meant to be but some you had to have an educated guess. That said Joey, Rachel and Monica were real doppelganger moments.

Enzo Benvenuti is Ross Geller, the paleontologist. Considered by some to be the most intelligent of the six main characters, but at the same time a clumsy, quirky man, Ross is known for being a smart, know-it-all who prides himself on his rationality, despite his clear hopeless romanticism. He is shown to be the most caring of all six members in various instances on the show, but also shown to be the most neurotic and his insecurities often get him into trouble.

Alicia Belgrade is Monica Geller, the younger sister of Ross and best friend of Rachel, the latter of whom she allows to live with her after Rachel forsakes her own wedding.

Daniel Parkinson is Chandler Bing, known for his sarcastic sense of humor, and is often the wittiest member of the group. He has been Ross's best friend since their freshman year in college. Chandler is often depicted as being somewhat of a hapless individual, suffering a lot of bad luck while struggling through life. 

Eva Hope is Rachel Green. Eva is the spitting image of Jennifer Aniston, helped enormously by Aniston's trademark hair. Aniston went on to make several hair care commercials, which was mercilessly parodied in the second act. Rachel is introduced into the musical after dumping her fiancé, Barry, at the altar, immediately having something in common with Ross, who was dumped at the altar as well by his fiancé. "Friends" devotees will know the ending of this serial romance.

Ronnie Burden is Joey Tribbiani Jr., a good-natured but not-so-bright struggling actor, who becomes mildly famous for his role as Dr. Drake Ramoray on a fictionalized American daytime soap. Joey is a womanizer, often using his catchphrase pick-up line "How you doin'?" which in this musical is immortalised in song form.

Amelia Atherton is Phoebe Buffy Hannigan, a ditzy, aspiring musician who plays the guitar and sings songs with somewhat unusual lyrics at the coffee shop.

Edward Leigh plays Gunther, the owner of the coffee shop, Tom Selleck and Paolo the primate. He also plays the warm up guy who comes on before the show starts properly to "warm up" the audience, and then at the start of the second act, involving audience members in a competition to see who is the biggest "Friends" fan.

Lottie Lester and Meg Darcy are the female ensemble and Jared Thompson and Harry Mallaghan complete the male ensemble.

Directed by Michael Gyngell.

Choreographed by Myles Brown.

The music is by Assaf Gleizner.

The Set and Lighting Designer is Andrew Exeter. Not having seen the TV show, I wasn't too educated in the particular sets, but I of course recognise the apartment as well as the iconic sofa, Gunther's coffee house as well as the fountain scenes; all of which are represented faithfully on stage. 

Sound design is by Chris Whybrow.

Jennie Quirk's costume design also faithfully replicates the costumes from the TV show, making it easier for me to recognise the characters at a glance.

Wigs, hair and make up design are by Craig Forrest Thomas and this is one area that really excelled for me with several wig changes for Edward, and a brilliant make up design for Janice. "Friends" fanatics will know all about Janice!

Mark Crossland is the Musical Supervisor and the music is arranged by Charles Olins. While the show parodies the TV show, there are also some of the songs that parody songs from big musicals i.e. “Cell Block Tango” from "Chicago", "Matchmaker Matchmaker" from "Fiddler On The Roof", "Part Of Your World" from "The Little Mermaid", "Damnit Janet" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and “Seasons of Love” from "Rent". Many of the others sound like they should be from familiar musicals, or maybe they just have that familiarity; like a favourite pair of slippers to slide your feet into on a chilly Autumnal evening.

There were some songs from the show though that I really found myself tapping my toes to, "We Were On A Break", which opened Act Two, was a real catchy number, "OMG It's Janice" is another, and "Could I Be Any More In Love With You" has the makings of a memorable melody.

The vocals from this group of actors are clean and strong and really carry these songs, making them quite a highlight for me.

I will admit that by the end of the first act, I was not impressed at all, but slowly this parody musical started to grow on me and, while it'll never be on my list of favourite musicals, it was Ok. I feel that you would need to be a fan of the show to get everything from this musical; much of the in jokes were lost on me I'm sorry to say.

"Friends The Musical Parody" will be there for you to see at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 20 September.

Now I'm off to catch up on some TV episodes of "Friends" and see what all the fuss is about the word "Pivot"!