EDINBURGH 2019: Review: FRIENDSICAL: A PARODY MUSICAL ABOUT FRIENDS, Assembly Rooms

Friendsical: A Parody Musical About Friends is the condensed 10-year will they/won't they story of Ross and Rachel told over just 90 minutes. It is addressed at the beginning that the timeline is off and iconic scenes will pop up out of the usual order.

The casting for this production is exceptional, and in particular Sarah Goggin (Monica) and Jamie Lee-Morgan (Ross) have their character mannerisms down to a fine art. Jordan Fox (Joey) also has possibly the best voice in the show.

The songs featured include "You're Over Me, When Were You Under Me?", "Richard's Moustache" and "(He's Her) Lobster!", which are high energy and really good fun.

The script is clever but possibly requires a lot of background knowledge of the show. References are dropped in about how the apartment numbers changed after the first season and other small details. Some known catchphrases are missing, but I heavily suspect that might be for copyright reasons!

The only downside to Friendsical is that it can't seem to decide whether it's a loving tribute or a scathing parody. Miranda Larson has obviously written this with a great deal of affection for the show, but there are a few moments where it feels like too much fun is being poked at it.

As a die-hard fan of the show I felt that Friendsical was a really fun (if slightly long) production, but it might be a bit much for those who don't know the TV series inside out.

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/friendsical-a-parody-musical-about-friends

To post a comment, you must register and login.