THEATRE: FRIENDS – THE MUSICAL PARODY.
Theatre is back, and it’s sending up of those notso-perfect TV Friends!
Ahandful of television sitcoms are experiencing a renaissance through the magic of theatre. The Office, The Golden Girls and Gilligan’s Island have all been revived thanks to musical parodies. Friends: The Musical Parody begins its Australian tour this month. Love it or hate it, Friends was incredibly successful, in production from 1994 to 2004. The musical parody has opened to positive reviews in New York and Las Vegas. Mashing up the show’s popular story arcs, many liberties are taken, and there are plenty of jibes at the actors who originally played the characters on TV.
“The fact that it’s a parody takes some of the pressure off!” admits Australian director, Dash Kruk. “A lot of fans hold the original series pretty close to their hearts. So if we were trying to produce Friends! Live On Stage! We’d have a lot of insurmountable expectations to uphold. That it’s a parody allows us some freedom in the way we represent the show and invites the audience to lovingly poke fun at the characters and storylines.”
The original show’s main demographic was young women, and it was never a huge hit with the LGBTQIA+ community perhaps, admits Kruk, for good reason. Friends’ male characters cringed obsessively over the slightest gay overtones.
“Re-watching all ten seasons, I was shocked by some of the comments and jokes relating to LGBTQIA+ people,” says Kruk. “Some characters were worse than others but, overall, it made the queer community a punchline in many ways.
“I’m not justifying that humour, but what struck me was the way in which the show also normalised homosexual couples and showed everyday people coming to a place of acceptance. We’ve got to remember, this was the ’90s and we still had a long way to go. The fact that on prime-time TV they had a samesex wedding, same-sex family units, and gay people who were proud of their sexuality was progressive for the time. In fact, we have a couple of jokes berating Chandler for comments he makes!”
The Australian cast includes Belinda Jenkin (Phoebe), Stefanie Jones (Monica), Sarah Krndija (Rachel), Tyran Stig (Ross), Rowan Witt (Chandler) and Joseph Spanti as Joey. Shakespearean actor Chris Huntly-Turner plays the Rachel-obsessed Gunther.
In preparing for the role of Ross, Tyran Stig spent time studying the original source. “We have ten seasons of a beloved TV show and its characters at our fingertips for inspiration,” he says.
“I take my characterisation of Ross, created by the brilliant David Schwimmer, through his mannerisms, voice and incredible comic timing, and use it as a guide to fit the show we’re creating,” he says.
“The writing of the original show allowed people to feel deeply for these characters because they saw their own rollercoaster of emotions, especially with the relationship storylines. Everyone has experienced some sort of heartbreak, love or even just a crush, so it’s been handy to draw on my own life experiences.”
They had a samesex wedding, samesex family units, and gay people who were proud of their sexuality.
“This show is perfect for this moment in time,” says director Kruk. “After everything that’s been happening, a lot of people are looking for comfort and the nostalgia takes us back to a less problematic time. This show connects everyone in that theatre and makes them a part of it. That’s a perfect antidote to the last 12 months.”
MORE: Friends: The Musical Parody opens at The Star, Gold Coast before heading to Melbourne, Brisbane, Parramatta, Adelaide and Perth. Go to friendsmusical.com.au