CHESS (2025 Broadway Revival) Reviews- Page 6

[Dolly80]

Posted: 12/13/25 at 7:00pm

Sutton Ross said: "SisterGeorge said: "Saw this last week and loved it (notwithstanding some of the Arbiter's well-documented idiotic comments). While "Anthem" is unquestionably the musical high point, I thought Aaron was quite wonderful throughout with the exception of his "One Night in Bangkok" which I though was curiously lethargicand mostly unintelligible. Is this always the case, or did I just catch him on a bad night? Definitely going back."

He was stunning during that number when I saw it (second week of previews). Go back on a Tuesday when the actors are most refreshed, if you can."


 

I couldn’t make out a word he was singing when I saw  this a couple of weeks ago. That whole number was so badly staged.

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 4:27am

Finally saw this one and lots of thoughts:

1) The men are the best part of this show. Don’t love Nicholas’ accent, but that voice?! And when Tveit smoothly slides into his pants in One Night in Bangkok?! Both worth the price of admission.

2) Lea Michele needs to go. Her performance has absolutely no depth. There’s no emotion, so I don’t care about Florence and her songs fall flat. Speaking of her songs, aside from not being a great actress, she really only knows how to sing every song the same way. To the hilt. No levels, softness or sweetness. Her character was intense in Glee, so it worked for her there, but Someone Else’s Story should make me feel something and it didn’t because it was just loud. The audience clearly disagreed with me.

3) The show is too long. It drags.

4) The arbiter didn’t need to be so schlocky, and while I love Bryce Pinkham, I didn’t need him twerking or a few of the other over the top moments that were trying too hard for laughs.

5) Svetlana was better than Florence. Because I actually felt her anger and her fear.

6) The music really is great. My friend didn’t know any songs except Bangkok and she walked away singing one of the others. Leaving singing the songs doesn’t happen much anymore.

7) I appreciated the overture. Miss those.

Overall enjoyed, but wish it was shorter and wish Florence was played by someone with depth.

[Mary_Poppins]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 6:48am

DramaTeach said: "Speaking of her songs, aside from not being a great actress, she really only knows how to sing every song the same way. To the hilt. No levels, softness or sweetness."

So this isn't sweet enough for you?

https://www.today.com/video/lea-michele-performs-heaven-help-my-heart-live-on-today-254231109942

In the video on Youtube that is sadly gone now she sings it even softer..

And regarding the loudness, there's also an audio on Tiktok of this song where you can hear various noises from the audience. Can't have been too loud.

 

Updated On: 12/14/25 at 06:48 AM

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 7:22am

Mary_Poppins said: "DramaTeach said: "Speaking of her songs, aside from not being a great actress, she really only knows how to sing every song the same way. To the hilt. No levels, softness or sweetness."

So this isn't sweet enough for you?

https://www.today.com/video/lea-michele-performs-heaven-help-my-heart-live-on-today-254231109942

In the video on Youtube that is sadly gone now she sings it even softer..

And regarding the loudness, there's also an audio on Tiktok of this song where you can various noises from the audience. Can't have been too loud.

"

its easier to ignore the people with a certain predictable take on Lea when you could give them a large list of songs sung in a variety of ways.  its kind of boring how predictable they are.  Pretty sure she won't be leaving the show on their say so anytime soon.

oh and the take on her acting is also predictable . ho hum. 

If you don't like Lea just be honest and say it without making claims that she can't act and only sings one way , both of which are demonstrably untrue.

 

Updated On: 12/14/25 at 07:22 AM

[Mary_Poppins]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 7:36am

Dolly80 said: "I couldn’t make out a word he was singing when I saw this a couple of weeks ago. That whole number was so badly staged."

I understood at least 80% of the Bangkok bootleg and I'm not even a native speaker.

 

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 8:30am

GirlFromOz68 said: "Mary_Poppins said: "DramaTeach said: "Speaking of her songs, aside from not being a great actress, she really only knows how to sing every song the same way. To the hilt. No levels, softness or sweetness."

So this isn't sweet enough for you?

https://www.today.com/video/lea-michele-performs-heaven-help-my-heart-live-on-today-254231109942

In the video on Youtube that is sadly gone now she sings it even softer..

And regarding the loudness, there's also an audio on Tiktok of this song where you can various noises from the audience. Can't have been too loud.

"

its easier to ignore the people with a certain predictable take on Lea when you could give them a large list of songs sung in a variety of ways. its kind of boring how predictable they are. Pretty sure she won't be leaving the show on their say so anytime soon.

oh and the take on her acting is also predictable . ho hum.

If you don't like Lea just be honest and say it without making claims that she can't act and only sings one way , both of which are demonstrably untrue.

"

I don’t like Lea. I’m not hiding that. But the reason I don’t like her is because I don’t think she’s a good actress. You’re allowed to disagree, but I don’t feel anything from her performances. No depth. Same way I felt about DeBose at Baker’s Wife.

Also, I said the audience tended to disagree, so I’m not sure why my response would be deemed “predictable.” 

Updated On: 12/14/25 at 08:30 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 12:43pm

its easier to ignore the people with a certain predictable take on Lea when you could give them a large list of songs sung in a variety of ways. its kind of boring how predictable they are. Pretty sure she won't be leaving the show on their say so anytime soon.

oh and the take on her acting is also predictable . ho hum.

Exactly. She was the sole reason Funny Girl recouped, and one of the main reasons this will too. She sells tickets, people are very excited to see her perform live, and her Florence is powerful and sounds incredible. 

But yeah, I'm sure she will be replaced today since she "needs to go". Lolz.

Updated On: 12/14/25 at 12:43 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 1:31pm

Who’s catching Katerina Papacostas’s Florence debut today?

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 2:15pm

Sutton Ross said: "its easier to ignore the people with a certain predictable take on Lea when you could give them a large list of songs sung in a variety of ways. its kind of boring how predictable they are. Pretty sure she won't be leaving the show on their say so anytime soon.

oh and the take on her acting is also predictable . ho hum.

Exactly. She was the sole reason Funny Girl recouped, and one of the main reasons this will too. She sells tickets, people are very excited to see her perform live, and her Florence is powerful and sounds incredible.

But yeah, I'm sure she will be replaced today since she "needs to go". Lolz."

You guys are really taking this very personally. I agree that she sells tickets hence why I said the audience enjoyed her. I was giving my opinion. I believe she’s the weakest link. I guess the “lolz” should indicate I’m not dealing with adults who can handle differing opinions. Lesson learned.

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 2:31pm

DramaTeach said: "GirlFromOz68 said: "Mary_Poppins said: "DramaTeach said: "Speaking of her songs, aside from not being a great actress, she really only knows how to sing every song the same way. To the hilt. No levels, softness or sweetness."

So this isn't sweet enough for you?

https://www.today.com/video/lea-michele-performs-heaven-help-my-heart-live-on-today-254231109942

In the video on Youtube that is sadly gone now she sings it even softer..

And regarding the loudness, there's also an audio on Tiktok of this song where you can various noises from the audience. Can't have been too loud.

"

its easier to ignore the people with a certain predictable take on Lea when you could give them a large list of songs sung in a variety of ways. its kind of boring how predictable they are. Pretty sure she won't be leaving the show on their say so anytime soon.

oh and the take on her acting is also predictable . ho hum.

If you don't like Lea just be honest and say it without making claims that she can't act and only sings one way , both of which are demonstrably untrue.

"

I don’t like Lea. I’m not hiding that. But the reason I don’t like her is because I don’t think she’s a good actress. You’re allowed to disagree, but I don’t feel anything from her performances. No depth. Same way I felt about DeBose at Baker’s Wife.

Also, I said the audience tended to disagree, so I’m not sure why my response would be deemed “predictable.”"

I meant predictable from Lea haters.  its kind of boring at ths point.  

I am an adult.  People are allowed to not like a performance but I've seen people come up.with more nuanced takes than she can't act and can only sing one way. That argument reveals you as a simple hater rather than someone who just doesn't particularly like this one performance. 

Updated On: 12/14/25 at 02:31 PM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 2:41pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Who’s catching Katerina Papacostas’s Florence debut today?"

I'm here. No hate to Lea, who was wonderful in Funny Girl. The tickets were just much cheaper on her out dates, and what I could afford. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 2:51pm

You guys are really taking this very personally. I agree that she sells tickets hence why I said the audience enjoyed her. I was giving my opinion. I believe she’s the weakest link. I guess the “lolz” should indicate I’m not dealing with adults who can handle differing opinions. Lesson learned.

You're dealing with adults, you just admitting you don't like her going in completely voids your opinion of her performance, which was already colored by your dislike of her. It was decided before you even entered the theater. Lea has had glowing reviews from everyone except the 5 people on here that have hated her for years. It's boring and predictable that you will all slam her in this show. I don't care for any of Matthew Broderick's stage work, but it doesn't mean I dislike him as a person because of that. What a weird thing to say.

[Danny1984]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 4:43pm

Is there likely to be a cast recording for this?

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 5:31pm

Danny1984 said: "Is there likely to be a cast recording for this?"

according to  a recent interview with Benny Andersson's son, who is also a producer,  they didn't budget for it but they are still trying to make it happen.  As I mentioned in an earlier post about this, I dont think they expected the show to do as well as its been doing, up in the $2M or thereabouts range in box office this week.

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 6:34pm

I got a ticket for Tuesday so I can see Papacostas as Florence and Samantha Pollino on for Florence. 

On Instagram, it looked like it was a multiple out day:

- Katerina Papacostas on for Florence

- Frederic Odgaard on for Shavey Brown

- Michael Milkanin on for Casey Garvin

- Emma Degerstedt on for Papacostas

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 6:56pm

How was Katerina?

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 7:23pm

I thought Katerina was sensational. Belted her face off! 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 7:51pm

Almost bought seats for this afternoon but the plummeting temps and snow forecast convinced me to wait. (This morning's bitter winds suggested that I made a good call.)  It's nice to know the standby is solid. There are multiple Michele outs in 2026, and maybe the prices will again be reduced. I did notice that today's performance was wildly undersold on Telecharge. Plenty of good seats at every price. Didn't check Tuesday. 

Updated On: 12/14/25 at 07:51 PM

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 10:09pm

Sutton Ross said: "You guys are really taking this very personally. I agree that she sells tickets hence why I said the audience enjoyed her. I was giving my opinion. I believe she’s the weakest link. I guess the “lolz” should indicate I’m not dealing with adults who can handle differing opinions. Lesson learned.

You're dealing with adults, you just admitting you don't like her going in completely voids your opinion of her performance, which was already colored by your dislike of her. It was decided before you even entered the theater.Lea has had glowing reviews from everyone except the 5 people on here that have hated her for years. It's boring and predictable that you will all slam her in this show. I don't care for any of Matthew Broderick's stage work, but it doesn't mean I dislike him as a person because of that. What a weird thing to say."

I’m so confused by this. I literally said I don’t like her because I don’t think she’s a good actress. I don’t dislike her as a person. So weird.

[getatme]

Posted: 12/14/25 at 10:22pm

Katerina was very good. Beautiful voice, present actor. Lacked a bit of fire, but I think a lot of Florence's edge has been sanded off in this production. Her head voice isn't especially strong so "You and I" and "Heaven Help My Heart" a bit odd vocally. But overall, really lovely performance.

And very fun to see the cast so visibly excited for her on her entrance, after Nobody's Side, and especially at curtain call.

[suzcap]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 12:14am

Lea sent both Katrina and Samantha flowers for them taking over.  Nice gesture.

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 6:27am

A bit off topic but I hope you will indulge this devastated Sydneysider tonight. it's been a hellish 24 hours in old Sydney town.

I've been numb and depressed all day after the events in Bondi yesterday.  I live on the other side of Sydney but it still hits home as my old suburb of Strathfield was devastated by a massacre of 7 people 34 years ago ( before the stricter gun laws were brought in after Port Arthur nearly 30 years ago).  it was sheer fluke I wasnt in that shopping centre 34 years ago when it happened.

These things stick with us here as they aren't every day events.

Anyway, tonight I decided to go and check out some Christmas lights I heard were very good in a nearby suburb to try and cheer myself up a bit  and as I drove over there I listened to Lea's Christmas album. 

As I listened to her sublime versions of Silent Night and O Holy Night and her wonderful duet with Cynthia Erivo on Angel's We Have Heard on High while looking at some lovely Christmas lights I was reminded how healing music can be and how a simple thing like beautiful lights and glorious music can remind us that there are still things of beauty even when the world seems  so dark.