REVIEW: Friends! The Musical Parody at Sunderland Empire
Written by Meena Green on 25th September 2025
Friends! The Musical Parody is in Sunderland Empire this week, from 23 September – 27 September. During opening night, Sunderland gave Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Joey and Phoebe a massive welcome. The audience was loud for Chip, a host character for the evening who opened the show with vocal warm-ups for the crowd so they were ready to cheer the cast throughout the night and count down for the show to start.
Alicia Belgarde (Monica), Daniel Parkinson (Chandler), Enzo Benvenuti (Ross), Eva Hope (Rachel), Amelia Atherton (Phoebe) and Ronnie Burden (Joey)
The show follows the group of friends, performing icon moments from all 10 seasons of the famous sitcom in two hours and 10 minutes (including a 20 minute interval).
Directed by Michael Gyngell who did an amazing job at bringing all seasons to the stage in a hilarious way that gave the audience their favourite scenes and most quoted lines (pivot!) and favourite characters (OMG, it’s Janice!). Myles Brown choreographed wonderful dances to go along with the great music by Assaf Gleizner.
The cast did an amazing job at bringing the characters to the stage. Alicia Belgarde (Monica), Daniel Parkinson (Chandler), Enzo Benvenuti (Ross), Eva Hope (Rachel), Amelia Atherton (Phoebe) and Ronnie Burden (Joey) made the characters feel like the TV show really was on stage. Their mannerisms were just like the characters as fans will know them which gave the audience lots of laughs. It also seemed like the cast were having just as much fun on stage as those watching.
The songs were original lyrics, but don’t worry about it feeling too unfamiliar as they were written to music from shows that most will know, the third song of the night being Central Perk Tango, a Friends rendition of Cell Block Tango from Chicago which the crowd loved!
PHOTO: Cast of Friends! The Musical Parody and the famous Friends door.
Set and lighting designer Andrew Exter did a great job at making the lighting match the songs and tones of the scenes, bringing them to life as well as making the set fun for the audience. It looked like a film set ready to record the show to air on TV as it would have in the 90s.
After the interval, since they’re covering all 10 seasons in 2 hours, the did a ‘previously on Friends‘ where they recapped the iconic moments or lines from some seasons they had to skip through during break. It was fun and didn’t feel out of place or rushed, it was a smart decision. Friends is 236 episodes after all. After the little recap moment, the show seemed to move much faster than the first part, but the second part was funnier than the first half.
The show was perfect for fans of Friends but also for those who have never seen the show. While those who never seen it may not get the quotes, the icon lines still make sense in the scenes on stage so you’ll still be able to be included in the fun. It’s a good introduction to what Friends is and who the characters are for potential new fans. Whether you know every episode by heart or you’ve never seen an episode, this parody is a hilarious night out that will have you dancing.
