Chess, Imperial Theatre, New York City

Take a hefty dose of pop music sung by broadway powerhouses, add some intrigue, messy characters and a cold war setting and you get Chess.  During its original run, Chess wasn’t considered a success, mostly because of the book.  But the music has a very strong following. (If you know One Night in Bangkok, you’ve heard music from Chess.)

I’ve wanted to see this revival since it opened last year.  Songs by Tim Rice and Abba members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus with an updated book from Danny Strong? Aaron Tveit and Lea Michele? Yes, please! The music more than lived up to my expectations. It’s catchy, fun and all of the leads were vocally outstanding.

The Plot: It’s the height of the Cold War. A narrator (aka the Arbiter) introduces us to our characters.  Chess players Anatoly, a Russian, is competing against Frank, an American and defending champion, for the championship.  Anatoly is supported by Alexander, who is also KGB (of course). Frank is supported by brilliant (we’re told) Hungarian chess strategist Florence.

There is also a CIA agent a lurking about. We quickly realize Anatoly, Frank and even Florence are not just chess players. They are also chess pieces in an international game of politics and public relations. The shady KGB and CIA agents keep manipulating events, playing on the players’ personal issues and weaknesses (there are many) in order to force the championship outcome they want.  

I really enjoyed the show and loved the music: The music is the reason to see this. But Chess was missing something that kept it from being special.  I had to sit on it awhile to figure out what was missing for me. There isn’t a lot of plot. That by itself isn’t an issue. Operas have hardly any plot. But the music has to directly support the plot to flesh out characters and stir emotion.  The characters in Chess aren’t awful people, but they are flawed. Which can be great for drama. But the music, as good as it is, leaves some characters undeveloped, especially Florence, so I didn’t really care about them.

All the leads, including Bryce Pinkham as the arbiter are sensational. Aaron Tveit nails One Night in Bangkok while dancing in his underwear, and Lea Michele’s  Nobody’s Side is exhilarating. But it is Nicholas Christopher as Anatoly that shines the brightest. His rendition of Anthem and Endgame Pt 2 legitimately gave me chills.  During Endgame, he holds a note on “never” for a massive 20 seconds! What a performance. The audience when I saw it was shook! Nicholas Christopher is deservedly up for a Tony for best leading actor in a musical. He has tough competition, including from Joshua Henry from Ragtime which I will discuss in a future post.

Final vote: I liked the show a lot and am glad I saw it. Did I cry? Yes, at the end. So I guess I cared some. Do I need to see it again? No. I mean, I would, but I don’t need to.  Will I add the cast recording to my playlist rotation? Absolutely, already listening to it. And I’m looking forward to what Nicholas Christopher does next.