CHESS Previews- Page 15

[suzcap]

Posted: 11/11/25 at 7:38pm

Lea sang Rachel differently then herself since she was a teen and matured over the seasons.She doesn't get enough credit for that since people like to dismiss her acting as it just being herself which is nonsense. 

And Poker-face actually made sense if you look at  what poke-face actually means hiding what you have or in this case hiding how you feel. 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/11/25 at 9:29pm

"Well, the book being a bit misogynist matches the score also being so. Not a single female song passes the Bechdel test."

I raised this very issue at the start of previews and was shouted down that the show doesn't need a "woke" fix. As if giving a female character any agency beyond romantic entanglements is "woke."

Strong had an opportunity to remint Florence, to give her a new impetus in the second act, one driven by her own thwarted goals rather than further codependency to two high maintenance men. It could be handled in the book scenes, the movement of Florence into her own realm in global chess tourneys. It still shocks me that a seasoned serial writer like Strong didn't aim higher, deeper, more a reflection of reality (and at least: The Queen's Gambit). But she's still a long-suffering woman behind the men with a missing Daddy. Her kvetching over the fellas defines every song she sings. It feels more midcentury than even the 1980s, but it condemns the storytelling to a tired, hoary construct. 

Updated On: 11/11/25 at 09:29 PM

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/12/25 at 7:16am

The Stars of ‘Chess’ Know the Score

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/theater/chess-broadway-lea-michele-tveit-christopher.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0k8.FVlB.xnBQflEWNEks&smid=nytcore-android-share