It was Aberdeen’s day, week, month – and even year – after being treated to the hilarious musical parody of Friends.
“Where were you when the Friends finale aired?” just feels like one of those questions that should be thrown around when you’re getting to know someone.
Was it a relief? Were you sad? Did you scream “Finally!” at the screen when Ross and Rachel decided to end the decade long (and exhaustive) will-they-or-won’t-they?
Whatever your reaction was (or if you did or didn’t follow the show) there was no escaping the hold six 20-somethings in 90s Manhattan had on network television.
If you closed your eyes and listened, it was as if Jennifer Aniston were on stage
And even yet for generations to come, as was clear from the range of ages in the nearly packed crowd at the Tivoli last night.
Whenever it was that you decided to tune in for the first time, it doesn’t matter.
Because once the lights dimmed, and first handful of The Rembrandt’s “I’ll Be There For You” notes filled the Tivoli, we were all there to step back into that moment when we first met Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Joey, and Chandler.
It also helps that the talented cast has nailed down the actors’ quirks and mannerisms to a tee. I had to rub my bleary, hay fever eyes to make sure that really wasn’t Jennifer Aniston up on the stage.
Rebecca Brierley, who portrays Rachel Green, delivered the distinctive hesitation markers and intonation perfectly.
But this was a parody, so the crowd was expecting some loving lampooning of the sitcom.
It did so wonderfully through musical numbers. Especially, the ones that asked the questions so many of us have been scoffing under our breaths for years.
Fan-favourite moments aplenty
Because Monica must have had to sell an organ to afford the rent on a New York apartment that size.
Has anyone ever bothered asking Joey “how he’s doin’?”
Or, my personal favourite, did they ever pay Gunther for the endless coffees and cakes they consumed at Central Perk?
The musical references so many key points in the show that it’s a feat they managed to fit 10 years into this two-hour production.
Catchphrases, the unmistakable orange couch, and – yes, even the chicken and the duck make an appearance.
But perhaps not in a way any devoted fan was expecting!
It manages to mock all the things the show is known for without being hateful to the original.
Chandler and Ross had the crowd doubled-over in laughs
The second act is where the comedy was dialled way up.
At one point, the audience was laughing so loud (and for so long), Thomas Mitchells, who plays Chandler Bing and Janice, had to cheekily signal to the crowd to let him deliver his next line.
I say “cheeky” since they were all laughing because of him to begin with.
Thomas and Mikey Wooster, who plays Ross Gellar, went toe-to-toe for the laughs on a Tuesday night.
Their physical comedy and energy when they were in a scene together really kept the laughter going and going and going…
The tremendously talented cast brought some extra sunshine to an already sunny day in the Granite City.
The seventh Friend
By the time the last number began, it felt like it had gone by all too quick.
And this time there would be no “Next Episode” option to keep the good times rolling.
It would be difficult to argue that the musical parody didn’t offer the nostalgic escapism it promises, not when the crowd was cheering and clapping as happily as they were.
Friends is a seven-letter word, and yet it always bothered me that there were only six of them.
But after sitting in a theatre full of fans of the show, and making my way out onto Guild Street with the rest of them, I got the sneaking suspicion the viewer might have been the seventh friend all along.