Friends! The Musical Parody – Hull New Theatre

Friends graced our TV screens from 1994 to 2004, so you would surmise that many of the iconic moments from that period, acted out in Friends! The Musical Parody, which has been running since 2022, would be long forgotten.

The show arrived at the Hull New Theatre on Monday as part of a UK and Ireland tour, and, judging by the audience’s reactions during the performance, there were many whose memories didn’t need to be jogged re the shenanigans of Rachel, Ross, Joey, Chandler, Phoebe and Monica – the friends in question.

There is a long gap between the end of the original TV series to the 2021 Reunion TV Special, an unscripted celebration of the iconic show. But Friends is now streamed on TV, maybe spawning a new crop of fans.

Monday’s show revealed a stage setting resembling the plain, grey inside of TV Studio 24 and it’s here, before a live recording of “Friends” that a warm-up man got us in the right mood to watch an episode. The originals were always filmed in front of a live audience of 300 fans and on Monday night, we were that audience.

The warm-up man in question, Edward Leigh, was, for me, one of the most entertaining parts of the show. He did a wonderful job and his American accent was quite believable. Leigh was a busy actor on the night, also playing Central Perk cafe manager, Gunther, Paolo – Rachel’s smooth-talking Casanova Italian boyfriend – and Marcel, Ross’s pet monkey in the first season.

Writers Bob and Tobly McSmith faced a huge challenge in resurrecting a decade of the most memorable scenes from the show and the fact that they crammed so much into a production lasting less than two-and-a-half hours is a credit to them.

As the stage setting shows the famous sofa in Central Perk, five of the six friends meet up for coffees – Ross Geller (Jared Thompson), Joey Tribbiani (Ronnie Burden), Phoebe Buffay (Amelia Atherton), Ross’s sister Monica Geller (Alicia Belgarde), and Chandler Bing (Daniel Parkinson).

It’s here Rachel Green (Eva Hope) makes her initial entrance to the show, bedraggled in a rain-soaked, voluminous wedding dress and veil after running from her wedding to Barry.

From then on this energetic bunch bring us scene after scene, mocking the original, yet in a humorous way.

I must admit I didn’t find any of it “side-splitting” as mentioned in the press release; neither did the young couple seated directly in front of me. They chatted all of the way through, never applauded once and, eventually, he rested his head on her shoulder for the last few scenes. Young love, eh!

But they were in the minority judging by the animated reactions of those in the fairly full theatre who happily joined in with a Mexican wave, singing, and answering quiz questions, courtesy of the aforementioned warm-up guy.

The six twenty-something friends have their fair share of ups, downs, love, laughter and tears in 1990s New York City.

Events such as Monica sporting a turkey on her head in season five meant that in this parody the turkey was massive; Monica, again, getting down on one knee to propose to Chandler (season 6); Phoebe’s dreadful songwriting, singing (who can forget Smelly Cat) and guitar playing, and her pregnancy in season 4. The scene in which she produces triplets is really amusing, especially when she tosses them over her shoulder.

Ross losing his job and his apartment; Joey’s go to pick-up line “How ya doin’?”; Ross and Joey amusingly sharing one chair for a nap and Gunther’s emotional outpouring of his unrequited love for Rachel all brought back the memories for fans. And recreated on stage was the fountain which always appeared in the opening credits of the TV show.

The list is endless, incorporating a decade of events. Fans will recognise many, but super-fans will remember all, such is the long-lasting appeal of the timeless comedy.

As befits the era and the ages of the participants, costumes were casual and comfortable. The stage setting varied between the cafe and Monica’s large apartment. Doorways had no sides to them, letting us see cast members coming and going. At times it all reminded me of a student farce/revue. But it suited the production.

Friends! The Musical Parody has original music composed by Assaf Gleizner, with everyone’s tuneful singing voices doing justice to his compositions.

Not so tuneful was the grating laugh of Chandler’s on-off, long-time girlfriend, Janice, a larger-than-life character who annoyed the heck out of me. Rumour has it, the culprit was the aforementioned Jared Thompson, but whoever it was – AAARRRGGHHH!

At least “she” couldn’t be ignored.

All in all, this parody wasn’t too cruel a mickey-take of the perennial favourite, just a gentle mockery that I’m sure the original Friends cast (RIP Matthew Perry who played Chandler) would find amusing.

And after showing their appreciation, it was a happy audience that left the theatre, accompanied by the well-known Friends’ theme tune, I’ll Be There For You, sung by The Rembrandts.

Friends! The Musical Parody runs until Saturday, March 7th 2026 at the Hull New Theatre with tickets available from (01482) 300306 and www.hulltheatres.co.uk

Reviewer: Jackie Foottit

Reviewed: 2nd March 2026

North West End UK Rating: