When “Chess” had its short lived run back in the 1980’s, the world was locked in a bitter war of power, trust games, espionage, and unwavering nationalism. Jump nearly four decades later to this day in theater history, the day “Chess” makes its long overdue return to Broadway, and it is still scarily parallel to these times.
I’d say it’s come back at just the right time for a greater purpose: to hold up the biggest mirror possible to our country to show how much we’ve stepped backwards, and how badly we need to step forward. All of these facts are made undeniably clear in Danny Strong’s reworking of the musical’s book, but maybe a little too clear at times. It’s not that these topics are being spoon-fed to us at 100 mph (thank you for that, Strong), but they’re definitely screaming at us as loud as humanly possible so that no attention on them is lost. A little more subtly would’ve done better for me, but I’ll give it some leeway given they’ve got a month still till opening so there’s time to sand down these things. But Strong knows how to keep a high stakes plot engaging without making the audience lose steam in the effort to soak it in, and his wonderfully fleshed out characters are handsomely filled to the brim with intense ethos as they are with poignant pathos.
What does get me about “Chess” is that in appears to be fighting about what kind of musical it is. Let’s leave out the sweeping score by ABBA’a two B’s and Tim Rice because that’s got nothing to do with this nit pick. There’s just so many times “Chess” is fighting between being a straightforward book musical and an operetta. There’s dialogue, but then all of a sudden there’s sung-thru dialogue. It’s like “Les Miz” battling with “Cabaret” here (not sure if that’s the right shows to use, but I think you get the point). It makes me wonder if that was a reason why the first run in the 80’s didn’t last more than 4 months. But I give credit to Strong for making things gel in some sense.
The staging, on the other hand, is a bit underwhelming surprisingly enough. It’s a minimal setup with the orchestra right before our eyes with the players mainly in a giant red box painted on the floor with cushioned seating to rest upon now and again. Choreography, which I’m amazed this show even had, could get repetitive and, honestly, maybe wasn’t even necessary for this musical in general. Costuming is very neutral looking as if illustrating that this time period and our times are blending. But the biggest thing that stood out to me: there was no chessboard and pieces for actors to play on. When the games occur, the players speak their moves into a mic. Michael Mayer, while prolific in the theatre community for a reason, is not exactly my cup of tea as a director. I’ve never seen a show of his where his work was so damning that I could go on about it in one of these posts (but this was definitely better than his work on the nightmare known as “Swept Away”). But the lighting by Kevin Adams was a well orchestrated machine of fitting colors and intensity that highlighted the stakes and emotions more than what the words on the pages alone can.
But if it weren’t for the well-chosen cast assembled for this production, those words on the page would never have life. Nicholas Christopher’s Anatoly is a stirring concoction of complexity and long built-up walls. And when he sings, oh lord, the floods are coming to bring us down with applause. Aaron Tveit, to me, has finally landed a role that is both good to and for him. The rises and falls of his Freddie are some of the finest work I’ve seen him do in his career thus far. And who can deny his vocality hits just the spot for the many above-the-staff notes this character gets up to (just wait till “Pity The Child” comes). And Lea Michelle. Let the naysayers say that she hasn’t changed (I don’t condone what she was noted for, but we all make mistakes and we learn from them; I wanna believe she’s done the work needed to make amends in some form), but the truth is She. Is. Back. Rich in strength and vulnerability, and a vocal prowess that needs know mixing on any recording she does, her Florence is no square. The arc she’s created with her character is the most vivid out of all of them. She’s an extraordinary talent, and I’m so happy she’s come so far beyond her “Glee” years now.
Additionally, we’ve got a strong, harde hitting supporting cast, but many of my props are going to Bryce Pinkham as the audience’s guide through the twists and turns this plot line takes. He gives the show some much needed humor, and by god do we need it when there’s so much sweeping drama packed in here.
“Chess “ is not the perfect musical the world has ever known, and this production certainly has its bits that need to be ironed out before opening, but it’s that musical we need at our current moment to get the gears turning in our heads; to have us reach that “oh” moment of “we need to stop repeating the past or we’ll never get anywhere.” Only time will tell if this time round the musical will make an impact, but for now, let’s welcome it back to Broadway with open arms and wish it a healthy and successful run.
