ABC Radio/Steve Iervolino(NEW YORK) — On Thursday evening in New York City, ABC Radio got a sneak peek of Friends25, an immersive exhibit celebrating the sitcom’s silver anniversary, which opens on Saturday.
The experiential exhibition company Superfly, which was behind the similar Seinfeld Experience, has painstakingly recreated Friends‘ Central Perk coffee shop, as well as the living room of Joey and Chandler’s bachelor pad — complete with their hockey stick-locked entertainment center and matching recliners — and other sets from the show.
On hand were The Rembrandts, who played the show’s theme song, “I’ll Be There For You,” as well as “Smelly Cat.” Fans were also treated to Friends-themed food like Joey’s Meatball Hero sliders and Phoebe’s Crazy Shake.
“It’s selfie heaven in here!” said Maggie Wheeler, who played Chandler’s famously nasal girlfriend Janice on the show.
“You can see how much joy people have,” she told ABC Radio. “The minute I walked into this space on the first day, my face just cracked open with this huge smile…[I]t’s just an amazing feeling to walk through here.”
Another Friends alum, James Michael Taylor, who played blond barista Gunther on the show, called the space “surreal.”
“I see certain props and reminds me of … a specific episode,” he told ABC Radio. “[M]y character was…a man of very few words…So I had a lot a lot of time to hang around the prop department and see them actually creating these…like the Geller Cup and..Glynnis, the most terrifying painting in the world.”
Tickets for the experience, located at 76 Mercer St., sold out in just three hours. Part of the exhibit, open to the public, includes a retail space that sells items like Central Perk mugs and replicas of Joey’s “bedtime penguin pal” Hugsy
The pop-up closes October 6.
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