Friends! The Musical Parody At Mayflower Southampton Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Mel S-W
So no one told you life was gonna be this way… Just one line and it brings you right back to this iconic sitcom of the 90s. We were all hooked, all needing to know what happened when Ross and Rachel were on a break, and ultimately, how to get an overly large sofa up the stairs! There was so much excitement for what was in store for us tonight and, having not looked into what the show was about prior to tonight, I knew I was in for a treat.
Entering the theatre, we were greeted with a filming stage — Stage 24 — in which the show would be set. Everything on the stage was a set, each labelled to give you an idea of what was behind each panel. There were “crew” on stage before the show started and during the interval, getting things ready and setting the scene that we were there to watch the filming of our favourite show. 90s music dominated the backing track whilst waiting for the show to begin and during the interval, which had me singing along in my seat.
From the outset, the audience were hyped up by Edward Leigh, an actor of many hats as it transpires, and you were made to feel as if you were watching a live recording of an episode of Friends. We had quizzes, vocal warm-ups, crowd warm-ups, but his portrayal of some of the lesser-known parts such as Gunther and Marcel the monkey had the audience falling in love with him! When he performed the song “Part of Their Gang” about how Gunther has no plot lines, no lines, and generally gets forgotten about, he got the biggest applause of the night.
Enzo Benvenuti as Ross embodied the mannerisms, posture and noises fantastically. Alicia Belgarde as Monica had a fantastic voice and mastered Monica’s high-pitched “I know!” Daniel Parkinson’s portrayal of Chandler was full of facial expressions and hand gestures — could he beeeeee any more Chandler?! However, the part he played of an infamous and unlisted character gave us all an “Oh. My. Gawd.” moment that really got the audience laughing. The cast looked like they were really having fun on stage, and there were moments where they just got caught up in the moment. It was fantastic and I’m glad I got to see it tonight. The wardrobe was very 90s, with the team picking out some iconic outfits for the show, from Rachel’s mini skirts to Monica’s unflattering shirts that were laughed about in the songs tonight.
The show used popular songs from other musicals and shows, changing the words to fit the story. It was so cleverly done. Rewording and changing the lyrics to the popular theme song “I’ll Be There For You” to see us out for the interval was my favourite. An unexpected “Cell Block Tango” (Chicago) used to tell the story of the friends’ love lives was a brilliant addition.
I would give Friends: The Musical Parody 4 out of 5. There were just a few sound gremlins causing issues behind the scenes that meant we missed some of the lines, but this was their first night back after the Christmas break. I loved the fact that the additional advertisement mentioned “Warning: May cause spontaneous PIVOT-ing!” but it would have been amazing to have had this scene featured in the musical, as I had hoped it would be included.
Overall, I thought Friends: The Musical Parody was a great piece of comedic theatre, featuring some iconic moments of everyone’s favourite 90s show. There were some bits that couldn’t be reproduced, but the show leaned into this, which made it all the funnier.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets for the show start from £29.50
https://www.mayflower.org.uk/whats-on/friends-the-musical-parody-2026/#book
Mayflower Theatre
Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1GE