CHESS Champions?- Page 2

[NoItAll]

Posted: 7/10/23 at 5:04pm

Drop the name and grab the talent.

Lea would be name enough. Impress the critics, wow the first audiences, and it’s job done. I’d get a guy who could harmonize with Florence like this, i.e., better than vintage 2023 Ramin. For the Anatoly, I’d search first for a handsome, operatically-trained Ukrainian bari-tenor. Broadway would fall for a new face with a glorious voice.

[Jumpin_J]

Posted: 7/10/23 at 7:14pm

I don't think Lea's on board at all. The inside track I've heard is she wants to get pregnant again which would knock her out for the part. 

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 7/10/23 at 8:23pm

Well, if it’s not Lea or Lena, then who?

I’m not sure it’s within her vocal range, but I’m sure Sara Bareilles would be a significant draw!

[mshalo18]

Posted: 7/10/23 at 8:29pm

Jumpin_J said: "I don't think Lea's on board at all. The inside track I've heard is she wants to get pregnant again which would knock her out for the part."

It's certainly a possibility, but I'd be surprised if this were true. She had a very difficult pregnancy, and it seems like she went through hell when her little boy was sick. Another child would easily put her out of commission for a couple of years, and I don't see that happening. But then again, what do I know?

That said, if not Lea, I would love to see Jessica Vosk back on Broadway, but she's not a big enough drawer.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 7/10/23 at 8:39pm

mshalo18 said: "Jumpin_J said: "I don't think Lea's on board at all. The inside track I've heard is she wants to get pregnant again which would knock her out for the part."

It's certainly a possibility, but I'd be surprised if this were true. She had a very difficult pregnancy, and it seems like she went through hell when her little boy was sick. Another child would easily put her out of commission for a couple of years, and I don't see that happening. But then again, what do I know?

That said, if not Lea, I would love to see Jessica Vosk back on Broadway, but she's not a big enough drawe

Ha Lea is not putting her career on hold to have another baby at this stage of her career especially now HOT off FG in Sept!

As for Jessica Vosk, she's so overrated and I hear she's not that great in CHESS at the Muny simply doing her Elphaba shtick. 

[NoItAll]

Posted: 7/10/23 at 9:15pm

Lea’s plans after Oct. 30. She’ll be giving birth to another show.

[Jumpin_J]

Posted: 7/10/23 at 10:14pm

That said, if not Lea, I would love to see Jessica Vosk back on Broadway, but she's not a big enough drawe

Ha Lea is not putting her career on hold to have another baby at this stage of her career especially now HOT off FG in Sept!

It may not be her call. The final say is up to the producers. If they have a theater committed and they elect to go ahead, either Lea will have to put the baby on hold for at least six months plus rehearsal time or they'll replace her. Theaters are in high demand. If it comes down to Lea or the theater, producers will go for the theater 95% of the time. They have a fiduciary responsibility to the investors, not to the stars. Stars are replaceable. Theaters are in short supply. 
 

 

Updated On: 7/10/23 at 10:14 PM

[NoItAll]

Posted: 7/10/23 at 10:38pm

Jumpin_J said: "That said, if not Lea, I would love to see Jessica Vosk back on Broadway, but she's not a big enough drawe

Ha Lea is not putting her career on hold to have another baby at this stage of her career especially now HOT off FG in Sept!

It may not be her call. The final say is up to the producers. If they have a theater committed and they elect to go ahead, either Lea will have to put the baby on hold for at least six months plus rehearsal time or they'll replace her. Theaters are in high demand. If it comes down to Lea or the theater, producers will go for the theater 95% of the time. They have a fiduciary responsibility to the investors, not to the stars. Stars are replaceable. Theaters are in short supply.”

Sure. They’ll always have a Beanie. What difference could Lea possibly make to a musical with an outdated, problematic book that requires world-class virtuosic vocals from its female lead?

 

Updated On: 7/10/23 at 10:38 PM

[Phillyguy]

Posted: 7/11/23 at 7:34am

Jumpin_J said: "Theaters are in high demand. If it comes down to Lea or the theater, producers will go for the theater 95% of the time. They have a fiduciary responsibility to the investors, not to the stars. Stars are replaceable. Theaters are in short supply.
"

I thought we've already learned from FG that a star can make or break a show. They have a fiduciary responsibility to the investors to make money, not necessarily to move forward when a theater opens up. 

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 7/11/23 at 9:42pm

After seeing the recent West Side Story in Chicago, thinking that their Tony, Ryan McCarten, could handle Freddie well (though at aged 30, he’s a few years too young). His vocals were pretty thrilling. I know, I know…not a name that’s going to entice many ticket buyers. Maybe Jeremy Jordan?

[Robbie2]

Posted: 7/11/23 at 9:48pm

Phillyguy said: "Jumpin_J said: "Theaters are in high demand. If it comes down to Lea or the theater, producers will go for the theater 95% of the time. They have a fiduciary responsibility to the investors, not to the stars. Stars are replaceable. Theaters are in short supply.
"

I thought we've already learned from FG that a star can make or break a show. They have a fiduciary responsibility to the investors to make money, not necessarily to move forward when a theater opens up."

Lea will pay back the investors of FG by the time it closes in Sept. per reports. 

[Penna2]

Posted: 7/11/23 at 11:03pm

OuttaTowner said: "After seeing the recent West Side Story in Chicago, thinking that their Tony, Ryan McCarten, could handle Freddie well (though at aged 30, he’s a few years too young). His vocals were pretty thrilling. I know, I know…not a name that’s going to entice many ticket buyers. Maybe Jeremy Jordan?"

McCarten has a great voice, but he overacts - tries too hard to show how much emotion he's feeling. Flails his arms around and makes a lot of faces. I've seen a number of his videos and he needs a good acting coach. JMO. 

[Owen22]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 9:17am

OuttaTowner said: "After seeing the recent West Side Story in Chicago, thinking that their Tony, Ryan McCarten, could handle Freddie well (though at aged 30, he’s a few years too young). His vocals were pretty thrilling. I know, I know…not a name that’s going to entice many ticket buyers. Maybe Jeremy Jordan?"

If Jeremy has the vocal chops yes, great casting choice!  Best I've heard.  Now, I know Jeremy can sing, but Phillip Casnoff had a magnificent upper belt that sold that number better than any Freddie I have ever seen.  Does Jeremy's voice approach that?

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 11:37am

I think so - I’ve seen him in 3 different shows and with his band, and I think he has the range to do the role and score justice. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 11:48am

For the book, I think the assumption was that they'd use the book from the recent Actors Fund concert (which was dreadful IMO). In an interview, Jessica Vosk mentioned that the Muny book was based on the West End one, but the director had moved some stuff around to make things more logical (I'd definitely be interested in hearing more details about that).

Honestly I'm mostly just waiting for a book/director that realizes Florence is actually the main character of the show.  It seems to me that they keep trying to put too much emphasis on Anatoly when the main throughline and emotional stakes belongs to Florence.

I do love the idea of a Ukranian newcomer playing Anatoly but I kind of doubt it would happen, but I do think the combo of Ramin and Lea would definitely sell tickets.  He might be old for it now, especially opposite Lea/Ramin, but I'd love to see Raul Esparza back in the role of Freddie since I wasn't able to catch his run at Kennedy Center.  Jeremy Jordan would definitely be exciting as well.  Not a name, but what about Heath Saunders as Freddie?

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 11:55am

Raul is now 52, and Freddie is supposed to be mid-30’s, so they’ll likely seem someone closer to that. Jordan is 38. 

[Voter]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 1:51pm

But who would direct? Because tbh, I'd rather not have Josh Rhodes do it after seeing the MUNY's direction

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 1:56pm

chrishuyen said: "In an interview, Jessica Vosk mentioned that the Muny book was based on the West End one, but the director had moved some stuff around to make things more logical (I'd definitely be interested in hearing more details about that)."

Glad to oblige, as I'm a member of a Facebook group that is obsessed with all the minutiae of (pardon the pun) each game of Chess.

The changes unique to the MUNY version don't make all that much difference in delineating the story from their London base, but they are:

 

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ACT I

- The four leads each sing solos in the first verse of "Story of Chess."

- The Arbiter's monologue (not sure if it's the standard opening speech or not, the poster wasn't that thorough) occupies what used to be the first verse of "Merano," with the chorus beginning the song at "The gods have smiled..." In lieu of the whistling, the Arbiter begins to introduce the players, but Freddie is, of course, late.

- "Freddie's Entrance" goes straight into "Press Conference" (which uses the 2008 concert arrangement, cutting the Leningrad verse), with no "Merano" reprise.

- The scene before "Where I Want to Be" (which includes "Anatoly and Molokov," as usual) is largely the same, though it is now explicitly indicated that Anatoly finds Florence attractive.

- Walter is involved with "Commie Newspapers," and after that song, there's a fragment of the "How Many Women" scene from Broadway.

- The opening ceremony is "Diplomats" (with the Arbiter singing the final verse, for some reason), straight into "Arbiter," straight into "Chess #1." Following all this is a scene clearly playing off the yogurt scene from the Broadway/Sydney versions, though in this case, the offending foodstuff is a banana which Anatoly mocks Freddie with by using it as a telephone. "Quartet," of course, follows.

- Following this is a dialogue scene that serves the same role as the "Florence and Molokov" recitative in the London version, which incorporates the "pick a restaurant from a guidebook" element from the equivalent Broadway scene.

- The "(1956) Budapest is Rising" / "Nobody's Side" scene goes off without a hitch, though it ends abruptly even for the London version, cutting off after "Never waste a hot afternoon."

- No "Der Kleine Franz," though Florence and Anatoly do have a scene together before "Mountain Duet."

-  After Freddie's verse, Anatoly gets the line "I have agreed to the terms Miss Vassy has set out..." etc. He leaves, and we go straight into "Florence Quits" with no change of scene. After this Freddie sings "Pity The Child" in full, and then sings "A Taste of Pity" as a press conference before resigning.

- The defection scene involves Florence distracting Molokov as Anatoly runs off. With Walter's aid, he boards a plane to London and Florence sings "Heaven Help My Heart" once they are safe aboard.

- On the ground, Anatoly is accosted, and we get "Anatoly and the Press" followed by "Anthem." Camera flashes go off as the curtain closes.

ACT II

- Freddie comes out as a reporter immediately (the script generally plays very nicely with this element). His reports on the first few games of the match are underscored by "Golden Bangkok." Then there's some stage business where he witnesses Anatoly and Florence being all coupley, which leads into "One Night in Bangkok."

- The "One More Opponent" / "You and I" scene has a short dialogue interlude where Anatoly explains that his marriage to Svetlana was arranged from the beginning and the two never really loved each other.

- The "Interview" scene begins with Molokov approaching Walter with his deal. Walter's interaction with Freddie, though now spoken, is much the same, and he and Molokov together sing the verse "We all want times in our careers...". The actual interview goes as normal. Svetlana's image stays on the screen, appealing in Russian, then English. She sings "Someone Else's Story" at a press conference.

- "The Soviet Machine" is slightly cut down, with little change beyond cutting the intro and outro verses.

- "The Deal" is the same as London, but the Arbiter's narration is swapped out for game status updates.

- "I Know Him So Well" and "Talking Chess" play out largely just as in London, with some of the 2008 concert dialogue at the end.

- "Endgame" cuts the opening Champions Chorus and Freddie's news report "All eyes in the world of chess..." but otherwise goes as in London.

- From there the show mostly ends as the 2008 concert version did, though with a couple of lines cut before "You and I (Reprise)" (which uses that concert's adaptation of the Broadway lyrics). Walter tells Florence her father may be dead after all, and she sings "Anthem (Reprise)."

As a TL;DR for those who don't wish to be spoiled: the basics and overall plot of the book are mostly unchanged from the UK version, but the songs have been rearranged (despite the song list in the Playbill being the unaltered London version) and a couple of extra dialogue moments have been added.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 2:01pm

Wow thank you so much g.d.e.l.g.i.!  I'd definitely be interested in the Facebook group if you can drop a link or just DM me (I'm in one for Chess already but it's rather inactive).

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 2:13pm

It's the one called CHESStalk. Easy to find!

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 5:03pm

The lightbulb just went on over my head. 
I’ve dream cast Oscar Isaac as Anatoly. He’s 44. 
Jeremy Jordan as Freddy. 
And of course, Lea. 
Here’s all my money. 🫠

[mshalo18]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 5:32pm

OuttaTowner said: "The lightbulb just went on over my head.
I’ve dream cast Oscar Isaac as Anatoly. He’s 44.
Jeremy Jordan as Freddy.
And of course, Lea.
Here’s all my money. 🫠"

Jeremy Jordan as Freddy? Buy me all the tickets now.

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 5:57pm

Looks like between the two of us, they’d be selling out the house for many weeks! 

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 4:28pm

Presuming that Lea is on board, how soon before we get an announcement of the engagement (a la Cabaret), even if they don’t reveal the full cast?  Will they wait until after Funny Girl closes?

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 1:13pm

No rumblings in this as of yet?  

Suspect they’ve grabbed up a theater by now.
One of my favorite things about this board is the inside scoop from those who are connected! 😁