Why'd "Chess" flop on Bway?- Page 2

[vassey]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 2:36pm

THe book Chess:The Making of a Musical tells the tale of the chaos that reigned with Chess in London when Michael Bennett fell ill. The costumes were designed for the Bennett production, the cast were brought in for Bennett's show, and the mammoth set, which was designed with flying TV screens, multiple rotating chessboards and virtually no scenery, was tailor made for Michael Bennett's vision, which noone else could imagine or create.

Trevor Nunn was pulled in he had to stitch these disparate elements into something that played - dance elements were thrown out, chunks of the huge scenery were never installed, the original concept of the TV screens was thrown out.... and vast amounts of writing and rewriting took place to make it play as a musical...
Michael Bennett's vision would CERTAINLY have been unlike anything seen before or since, billed as a multimedia experience.

Chess on Broadway was long and grey, as Tim Rice said, it looked like it was set in an underground concrete carpark.

Updated On: 7/19/12 at 02:36 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 3:59pm

PJ, I agree. Michael would have been only 69 years old this year. His loss was one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the theater.

And why must EVERYTHING Trevor Nunn does be three hours long, if not longer?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 4:55pm

"Why would equity not Elaine come over?"

Equity has to approve any non-US citizens/non-resident aliens who work in the US in an effort to keep US actors working. There are some cases where there is pretty much an automatic exemption. For instance if the actor in question is a "star," which of course leads to debates as to just what the definition entails, but generally if the person has enough film and TV work to be recognizable to the large majority of the US public that will qualify them on that level. However, when it comes to somebody like Elaine Paige, especially at that time, it gets a bit murkier. She was certainly a star on the British stage, but you could easily argue that she had been overshadowed by her American counterparts in two of her biggest stage triumphs at the time, Buckley in Cats and LuPone in Evita.

Also note that at the time the backlash against the British mega-musicals was beginning. Equity tried to block Sarah Brightman from coming over until Lloyd Webber threatened to completely cancel Phantom if she wasn't allowed to open the show on Broadway, and shortly after they would also try to block Jonathan Pryce in Miss Saigon, though the racial issue had a large role in that battle (I don't remember if Equity had an issue with Lea Salonga coming over or if they just focused on the Jonathan Pryce).

[nicnyc]

Posted: 7/19/12 at 5:03pm

I was lucky enough to see the original production. It remains one of most memorable theater experiences - despite the many flaws with the production. There were many script/plot changes as a result of the end of the cold war - many of which did not work and changed the shows themes dramatically from the more universal themes of the London production. The direction was very flawed and the breaking set was a nightmare. I think the biggest issue was the marketing - a lot of people could not wrap their brains around a musical "about chess" (which of course, it wasn't) - and a lot of people decided based upon the title that it wasn't for them. Every time I run into someone who actually saw it though - they say it was one of the best things they ever saw and how astonished they were that it closed. The music is gorgeous and it is one of my favorite musicals ever, even with all the production issues. David Carroll's performance was breath-taking. It is tragic that he died so young and so few people got to experience his unbelievable talents.

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 3:53am

Strange that they let the woman who created Piaf come over but never let Elaine.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 7/20/12 at 4:19am

Trevor Nunn clearly comes from the slow and plodding school of art, making him a perfect fit for the theatre's longest and most convoluted works.