Review: Friends! The Musical Parody at Sunderland Empire

 

Friends! The Musical Parody

Sunderland Empire

Until Saturday 27 September 2025

The one in which they started to sing...

Friends was one of the most popular of the 90s sitcoms. Running for 10 series from 1994, a total of 236 episodes were made (plus a reunion special). These were characters that defined an era in American television and thus ripe for turning into a musical. This, though, is a parody of a comedy which starts at the beginning and tries to finish where they ended up in the final episode.

The safety curtain lifted to reveal a set that was based on the soundstage of a television studio. A warm up guy comes on to get the audience in the mood as the set up is that we are the audience for a live taping of the show. Soon the door is revealed before the sofa and window, with "Central Perk" are both rolled onto the stage. The coffee shop owner Gunther starts a story before remarking that that will be it for his lines in the show. Then we have eccentric Phoebe (Amelia Atherton), brother and sister Monica (Alicia Belgarde) and Ross (Enzo Benvenuti), excitable Joey (Ronnie Burden) and Chandler (Daniel Parkinson) pointing out how much time they spend drinking coffee. Rachel (Eve Hope) pops into the shop wearing a wedding dress as she has just stood up her groom at the alter and they immediately become friends.

This is a parody, so the change of scene to Monica's flat is accompanied by a song that points out the unlikelihood of what we are about to accept, that Monica can afford a large flat in a great area on her single income. From this point the show struggles on two fronts. One is that the lack of a story, a linear progression beyond who is dating who, leaves a vacuum in the experience as not much actually happens. Secondly, the parody elements get in the way of a story breaking out as they expect the audience, one that loves these characters and wishes to spend some time with them again,  to take issue with the ridiculous set up, around which the original television series was set.

I hoped that matters would improve in the second act but a decision had been made to hit fast forward in order to get to the final episode in the remaining time. Whilst the original programme tried to offer a coherent exposition, we were left with the scattered remnant that only a committed fan would be able to piece together.

It is a musical, but I struggled to hear the lyrics for some of the songs. In fact I cannot remember any of the songs once I got home.   

There are some positives in that the cast worked hard and certainly looked the part. The costumes (Jennie Quirk) and wigs (Craig Forrest-Thomas) helped with the trip down memory lane. Certainly the set (Andrew Exeter) and crew enabled the action to flow without a break.

As someone who watched the shows, back in the day, I was looking forward to seeing this show. But ultimately the tangle of incoherent vignettes wrapped around forgettable songs left one feeling  that this was a missed opportunity. Don't get me wrong: some of the audience were laughing and getting involved when the fourth wall was broken - but that was mainly during the warm up act at the start of each act. The cast, I believe, had the capacity to deliver a more entertaining and satisfying show but the material wasn't up to it. 

Having said that, that's just my opinion and you may disagree and love it. It would be a boring world if we all loved the same things.

Review: Stephen Oliver

Photos: Pamela Raith

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🎟️ Essential Info:

📍 Venue: Sunderland Empire
📅 Dates: Monday 22 – Saturday 27 September 2025
⏱️ Running Time: TBC
🔞 Recommended Age: 13+ (contains strong language and adult humour)
🎭 Produced by: Mark Goucher, Matthew Gale & Oskar Eiriksson
💡 Created by: Bob & Tobly McSmith | Music: Assaf Gleizner | Design: Andrew Exeter