'Friends' Scottish links unveiled as musical parody of hit TV show comes to Scotland

Friends, which ran for 10 series, followed six twenty-somethings – Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Chandler Bing (the late Matthew Perry), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) and Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) – who remain some of the most beloved characters in television.

Featuring an entirely original musical score, Friends! The Musical Parody follows the escapades of the group.

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Left, the cast of Friends! The Musical Parody, and right, the original Friends! cast. | Pamela Raith Photography/Getty Images

From the producers of Hairspray and the director of The Full Monty, the new take on the TV show promises a blend of iconic moments with laugh out loud comedy.

The show comes to Edinburgh Playhouse from February 5 to February 7 and His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen from March 17 to March 21.

To celebrate, here’s a look at some of Friends’ Scottish connections.

Chandler Bing is half Scottish

In season 7, episode 15 (The One With Joey’s New Brain), viewers found out that Chandler is half Scottish.

When Ross hears about this, he attempts to learn the bagpipes and later thinks it would be great to play his new instrument at Chandler and Monica’s wedding.

However, the pair thankfully persuade him not to – which is just as well, as he’s useless at it

The iconic Friends sofa once came to Edinburgh

In 2019, the famous Friends sofa came to Edinburgh during a world tour.

The sofa stopped off at the Ross Fountain, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, as part of a series of events to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary.

The Central Perk sofa was in Edinburgh for one-day only to allow fans to snap a selfie.

Courteney Cox once got a free ride in an Edinburgh taxi

In December 2019, Courtney Cox was in Edinburgh supporting her Snow Patrol star partner, Johnny McDaid, who was playing a gig at the venue.

Fraser Ogilvie, who drives a black cab in Edinburgh, refused money for the ride after the actress jumped into his cab.

Instead, he said the trip was free in exchange for a picture with the A-lister.

Fraser Ogilvie

Fraser uploaded a picture of the pair on social media and joked: "Just a friend in the taxi #NaeTip."

Jennifer Aniston once made a post admiring Nicola Sturgeon

In January of 2021, Aniston praised (at the time) Scotland’s First Minister Nicole Sturgeon to her millions of Instagram followers as she hailed some of the world's female leaders.

The post was liked around nine million times in the first 24 hours.

Jennifer Aniston’s Glasgow roots

Aniston’s mother, Nancy Dow, is of Scottish, Irish, and Italian descent.

Jennifer's granddad was Gordon McLean Dow - who was born in Maine in 1880.

His great-grandfather, Neil McLean, was born in Glasgow in 1809, which means the great-great-great grandfather of Aniston was a Scot.

Friends the musical came to the Fringe

In 2019, Friends was turned into a different parody musical called Friendsical.

The premise of the show was that Ross, who acts as narrator, is celebrating the group’s ten years of friendship by committing it to a musical.

It enjoyed a month-long run at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh during the Fringe.

Tickets for ‘Friends! The Musical Parody’ at Edinburgh Playhouse are available now via the ATG tickets website.

Tickets for the Aberdeen show are also available now.