CHESS (2025 Broadway Revival) Reviews — Page 16

She was scheduled to perform in tonight’s show up until 5:15pm this afternoon. I was supposed to attend tonight’s performance, but opted to get a refund instead. This would have been my fourth time seeing the show.

I am so happy for Nick. I also loved Tveit in this and thought this performance was more deserving of a nomination than his performance in Moulin Rouge. JMO

Dolly80 said: "Robbie2 said: "Peppa222 said: "Was Lea always scheduled off tonight, or is that a new development? Telecharge has an alert on the ticketing page saying she's out."



No she was not scheduled to be out tonight.It must be that she's upset not being nominated a TONY. Seems obvious enough!"


Well this is all pretty transparent isn’t it.

id say it’s Karma that she hasn’t been nominated. She clearly doesn’t want to go in and see her colleagues being celebrated and not her."

There was one time people were making assumptions about Lea being out during FG and being hateful online and it turned out her son was in hospital. lets be careful about making assumptions.

Correct. She was out on Friday and when I saw her on Sunday, her voice sounded extremely rough. I hope she feels better soon and these hateful, disgusting comments are deleted.

WithoutATrace said: "She was scheduled to perform in tonight’s show up until 5:15pm this afternoon. I was supposed to attend tonight’s performance, but opted to get a refund instead. This would have been my fourth time seeing the show."

They've also had a lot of swings on lately. Allergy season? 5 swings were on tonight.

She also didn't go to the Met Gala which I believe she would have been invited too.

I might be weird but if a performer feels they couldn't give thier best either due to sickness or not mentally up to it is that so bad to hand it off to someone who can give 100%?

Apologies if this is repeated, but is part of her snub that its a singing role and not really acting?, havent seen this version

GirlFromOz68 said: "Telecharge has Lea marked out today and tomorrow so she's clearly sick and I saw a rumour Lea has bronchitis which makes sense with the longer absence and her having been off for the Saturday matinee and being said to be struggling on Sunday."

She's had a rough week already. I think she pushed herself too much last weekend pre-Tony noms. She's supposed to go on tonight and, hopefully, in much better health.

Auggie27 said: "People have attacked me for my critique of the role of Florence, butit's a one-note character, and that note is a singularly narrow one. She sings for 2.5 hours about her disappointment in love, with cases made against both narcissistic men.Forget whether afeminist prism works for you, actors of any gender need something to play, goals, missions, journeys to go on. Florence begins in a state of emotional paralysis, an angry victim of high maintenance Freddie, and segues intodisillusioned pawnof global intrigue once the exploited Anatoly finds his identity. Judy Kuhn had slightly more to play, because playwright Richard Nelson providedsubstantive scenes between the Rice lyrics-locked laments.This presentational iteration, with its Encores!-esque staging, places the unhappy leading lady downstage center for most of the evening, and lets her rip. The songs decidedly land as songs.

Butthey do not build a dimensional human being. Just when we most need her to break away from this insular world and find definition she again grows reflective with the bizarrelyplaced "Someone Else's Story." Which generically dramatizes ... wait for it ... stasis (its original purpose as Kuhn's I Want ironicallynoted.) You can fall hard for this performance and argue that the vocals are so exquisite Michele deserves recognition. Yet my points do help explain why neither the character's portrayal nor the piece as a whole were awarded nominations."

I’d argue that the idea that Florence is a one-dimensional character overlooks a lot of what is happening in both the lyrics and the structure of the show itself.



In my view, the placement of Someone Else’s Story after The Endgame in the new Broadway version serves an important dramatic purpose. After his victory in The Endgame, Anatoly is forced to choose between returning to Russia and his wife, or staying in the West with Florence while knowing the uncertainty and consequences his family would face back home.



By the time Someone Else’s Story arrives, Florence takes that decision into her own hands. Rather than waiting passively for Anatoly to choose, she makes the choice for him and accepts the personal sacrifice that comes with it. That shows agency, emotional maturity, and strength — qualities that are hard to reconcile with the idea of her being “one-dimensional.”



More broadly, I think the show’s depth comes from the way the lyrics and music work together to reveal emotional layers beneath what the characters explicitly say. A lot of the characterization in Chess is carried through musical themes, transitions, and emotional contrasts as much as through dialogue alone. Songs are often placed very deliberately to show internal conflict, shifting loyalties, regret, or emotional growth.



Florence, in particular, feels layered because her actions are frequently driven by conflicting emotions: love, anger, survival, vulnerability, and responsibility. Someone Else’s Story is a good example of that complexity. It is not just a sad ballad placed for dramatic effect; it reframes her role in the story and reveals a character capable of sacrifice and self-awareness, even at personal cost.

suicidalmickeymouse said: "I saw the 5/9 matinee and really enjoyed myself. Loved the lighting especially. I never would have known Lea was recently sick, she sounded great."

That is why it is better to take a few days off than try to push through it.

I appreciate another weigh-in on the Arbiter as a central point of failure in the Strong book. After promising a definitive Chess that ties up the loose ends in the plotting, make the triangle organic to geopolitical stakes, and fleshes out characters locked into Rice's navel-gazing lyrics, Strong simply gives the Arbiter the meta role of critic. He both sends up and trash-talks the prior libretti. It's not witty, it's lazy. The real-time Idol-esque commentary on on-stage singing, the interpolation of 2024 presidential politics (leave Joe Biden outta this mess) into a story disconnected other than a vague Russia, Russia, Russia irony - it's all from a black bag of cheap tricks, and it's gratifying that few have been fooled. The show is no better as narrative, and arguably, without this company and Pinkham, this snide shtick would alienate half an audience. I hope it's not licensed.

At the matinee now and Lea called out last minute. Not even on the board, made an announcement as we walked in and just got an email like 2 minutes ago