Star-studded guest cameos have been announced for the acclaimed Friendsical musical which is touring the country off the back of its success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Friendsical is an original, unique parody musical, written and directed by Miranda Larson [Christmasaurus, The Night Pirates, Cartoon Network Live], inspired by the hugely popular and beloved US TV show Friends that will tour the UK from Exeter to Aberdeen this September to November.
Ross, Rachel, Joey, Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe have been with us for nearly 30 years. They are still there for us, and this time a stage show musical parody crams all 10 seasons and 236 episodes into just over two hours of nostalgic fun.
The star-studded guest cameos include acclaimed singer songwriter and West End lead Louise Redknapp (Southampton, Salford), and The Pussycat Dolls Kimberly Wyatt (Cardiff, Huddersfield, Horsham, Bath), who delighted audiences as a judge on Sky 1 series Got to Dance, is a winner of the 2015 series of Celebrity MasterChef and finalist in ITV’s Dancing On Ice 2022. Also joining the cast is author, presenter, podcaster and winner of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Giovanna Fletcher (Hull) and Harry Judd (Dartford), drummer in multi-platinum selling band McFly, Strictly Come Dancing champion, The One Show presenter, West End performer and author.
Also included is Jake Quickenden (Bristol, Northampton, Colchester, Leicester, Aberdeen), who rose to prominence as a finalist on X Factor in 2014 and won Dancing on Ice in 2018. Jake is no stranger to theatre performances either, starring in the UK tour of Hair and most recently in the UK tour of Footloose 2022. Ballroom champion, Strictly Come Dancing star, and musical theatre performer Joanne Clifton (Cardiff, Bradford, Sheffield) will waltz right onto the Friendsical set and West End performer, winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2015 and member of the hugely successful band The Wanted, Jay McGuiness (Bath) will be sure to entertain theatre go-ers.
On top of that Friendsical will be welcoming not one but three incredible queens, Lawrence Chaney (Harrogate, Dundee, Cheltenham, Eastbourne, Sheffield), a British drag icon and winner of the 2nd series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, they entered the UK charts at number 3 with their song ‘UK Hun?’ in the drag group The United Kingdolls and is the star of the BBC Three series ‘Tartan Around’. Also sashaying onto the stage is Vanity Milan (Exeter), who competed in season 3 of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK, and whose lip syncing is second to none, and singer, dancer, drag star Ella Vaday (Salford) who is no strange to the stage having appeared in countless musicals before appearing on Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK season 3.
Friendsical is an original, unique parody musical, written and directed by Miranda Larson [Christmasaurus, The Night Pirates, Cartoon Network Live], inspired by the hugely popular and beloved US TV show Friends that will tour the UK from Exeter to Aberdeen this September and October. Ross, Rachel, Joey, Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe have been with us for 30 years. They are still there for us, and this time a stage show musical parody crams all 10 seasons and 236 episodes into just over two hours of nostalgic fun.
Join all six friends and some incredibly special guests as they sit around the iconic brown couch in Central Perk and take a trip down memory lane, with all the absolute best inside jokes, unforgettable scenes and storylines included.
Featuring original songs such as ‘(He’s her) Lobster!,’ ‘Richard’s Moustache’ and ‘You’re Over Me? When Were You Under Me?’, the gang take on naked Thursdays, a power cut, and a dinosaur convention.
What could possibly go wrong?
Writer-director Miranda Larson says, “The guest stars in Friendsical are in homage to the guest stars the TV Show had and the range of amazing characters they played. In our show, the guest star arrives only they don’t know what guest character they are playing, so they pop up throughout the show trying to find the right part to play. Eventually they land a part in a big disco number… who are they playing? I couldn’t possibly say.”
Playing everyone’s favourite friends are Sario Solomon as Joey, Sarah Michelle-Kelly as Monica, Nelson Bettencourt as Ross, Tim Edwards as Chandler, Ally Retberg as Phoebe, Amelia Kinu Muus as Rachel, Olivia Williamson as Hot Girl/Ensemble and Tanveer Singh Devgun as Gunther/Male Ensemble.
With book and lyrics by Miranda Larson and music by Barrie Bignold, Friendsical is choreographed by Darren Carnall and associate choreographer Michael Vinsen. The set and costume are designed by Anthony Lamble with lighting design by Dominic Jeffrey and sound design by Olly Steel. Casting is by Nicholas Hockaday and it is produced by Nick Brooke, William Burdett Coutts, Philip Noel and Dave Mauchline.
Friendsical is produced by Brooke Mauchline Productions Ltd in association with Assembly Festival.
