How does a simple Chess rivalry become more than just one person against another? How about...when both players are involved in a love triangle? And the two players are American and Russian, with their nations locked in a Cold War? This is the backdrop of the musical CHESS, the epic tale by Sir Tim Rice and two members of ABBA, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus.
Originally conceived in the early 1980’s as a world-renowned concept album by Rice, Andersson, and Ulvaeus, it had a successful run in London before it was brought to Broadway in the late 80’s. It was changed quite a bit for its American run, and the newer version of the show only made it through 68 performances on Broadway in 1988.
So many fans over the years have clamored for this show to get a proper Broadway revival, and we finally got it thanks to a new book by Danny Strong, direction by Michael Mayer, and a remarkable cast at the helm: Lea Michelle as Florence, Aaron Tveit as Freddie, and Nicolas Christopher as Anatoly.
In this episode, host Alex Birsh (Playbill's C.O.O. and SVP) brings on a theater friend who suggests the show when someone asks them, \"what should I see on Broadway?\"
And then he brings on his special guest, one of the stars of the show, Aaron Tveit, and who talks about the challenges and the joys of bringing this production to fans each night.
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