CHESS in Japan with Ramin Karimloo and Samantha Barks

[Fan123]

Posted: 10/23/19 at 3:30pm

Nice. Also to star Luke Walsh and Takanori Sato. To be performed in English with Japanese subtitles, using the London premiere version. I think it'll go to both Osaka and Tokyo. I don't suppose anyone here might end up going to this?


https://www.umegei.com/schedule/838/

[taylortrensch]

Posted: 10/23/19 at 3:58pm

i'm going to be attending on the 27th! i've seen one of the japanese actresses, megumi, in a other shows (kinky boots + rocky horror) and i've seen ramin in anastasia so it'll be cool to see them together.

[Lot666]

Posted: 10/24/19 at 8:40am

Why did it have to be Japan? 

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 10/25/19 at 12:11am

Lot666 said: "Why did it have to be Japan?"

Because having Japanese subtitles would have seemed weird any place else.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 10/25/19 at 9:44pm

I bought a membership hoping there's good tickets left (you get to purchase your ticket before the general public). Nope, only a couple of extreme side orchestra ones and the rest are in the mezzanine and balcony. 

[Fan123]

Posted: 1/17/20 at 3:06am

Rehearsal footage:
https://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay/VIDEO-Ramin-Karimloo-Samantha-Barks-and-More-Rehearse-For-CHESS-in-Japan-20200116

Comments from the leads and from director/choreographer Nick Winston:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JLzTvR8Pgg

The latter video is rather long, and mostly along the lines of "I'm so excited and it will be great!". One quote from Winston which I found interesting:
"When the show was first developed, it was developed with [...] Michael Bennett [...] and, unfortunately, he passed away during the process, and Trevor Nunn took over. And I think there was a change of tone in its original creation. Trevor Nunn's production was quite cerebral, and I believe Michael Bennett's was going to be quite physical and grandiose. So I think because of that early time, it never really landed or found the right tone. So for this production, as a director-choreographer, I would hope that we've found a physical language for the show that reflects, hopefully, Michael Bennett's original vision."

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 2/3/20 at 5:48am

At the intermission now. Wow, what a letdown with such a promising cast. To be honest, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to have a Japanese ensemble when most of them have diction problems with the English language, which is understandable but which inevitably makes it quite difficult to make out most of the lines, at least for me. (I do understand Japanese, but while peeking at the lyrics is no problem to me since I’m a fast reader, it just feels jarring.) For the first act, the pacing is all over the place, and I don’t feel the story, while there are some notable moments, is built up towards a conflict that demands an Act II to resolve nor somewhere interesting that I want to come back to and know more about. Ramin’s anthem about always having a place in his heart for his homeland that concludes Act I also comes out of nowhere and is not really earned nor the inevitable result of the plot development. I know that this is a sung through musical, but most of the big musics numbers just like the Act 1 finisher need more contextualization. The use of projection/LED screen? also feels way too on the nose after being spoiled by some of the marvelous moments in van Hove’s WSS revival. It just doesn’t add anything to the storytelling and repeats what is already in the lyrics. To be honest, I don’t know if I should fault many of the jarring directing choices on the director or the material. From what I’ve seen the show seems to be a sung-thru musical that desperately needs some book(-ish) scenes to fill the gaps.

Updated On: 2/3/20 at 05:48 AM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/3/20 at 9:15am

Thanks for the report! Do you happen to know which version of the book they're using or can you post the song list? I'm curious about whether this is an extension of the Kennedy Center rewrites or if they've reverted back to a Broadway/West End version

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/3/20 at 10:22am

That was my question too. Which Chess are they performing?

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 2/3/20 at 11:03am

From the program it says it is using the script from the original London production with a new direction by Nick Winston.

Musical Numbers:
ACT 1:
Prologue / The Story of Chess
Press Conference
Anatoly & Molokov
Where I Want to Be
Difficult and Dangerous Times
Arbiter
Quartet
(1956) Budapest Is Rising
Nobody's Side
Mountain Duet
Florence Quits
Pity the Child
Some Else's Story
Embassy Lament
Heaven Help My Heart
Anatoly and the Press
Anthem

ACT 2:
Golden Bangkok
One Night in Bangkok
One More Opponent
You and I
The Soviet Machine
The Interview
I Know Him So Well
The Deal
Endgame
Russian & Florence at the Airport
You and I (Reprise)
Anthem (Reprise)

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/3/20 at 11:11am

Thanks! Is it Florence or Svetlana that sings Someone Else's Story?

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 2/3/20 at 11:43am

chrishuyen said: "Thanks! Is it Florence or Svetlana that sings Someone Else's Story?"

Florence.

[Fan123]

Posted: 2/4/20 at 5:23am

Thanks for the info! It's a pity you didn't find it more enjoyable though. It's interesting to hear your thoughts on Act 1. I've got it into my head recently that Act 2 is the 'bad' act structurally in Chess. If you're willing to provide some more details: how did you find Act 2? And what did you think of the leads' performances?

(BTW, personally I prefer that Florence sings 'Someone Else's Story'. I just don't see Svetlana, under intense pressure from the Soviet government and with her kids' wellbeing at stake, singing that song. It's about a woman who's freer to make choices than Svetlana is at that point, IMO.)

[kdogg36]

Posted: 2/4/20 at 8:07am

Fan123 said: "BTW, personally I prefer that Florence sings 'Someone Else's Story'. I just don't see Svetlana, under intense pressure from the Soviet government and with her kids' wellbeing at stake, singing that song. It's about a womanwho's freer to make choices than Svetlana is at that point, IMO."

I agree completely. At least when the lyrics aren’t rewritten for Svetlana - as they weren’t at the Kennedy Center a couple of years ago - the song makes zero sense when she sings it. When Florence sings it, the “he” in the first two verses clearly refers to Freddy and in the third verse she’s equally clearly contemplating a different life with Anatoly. With Svetlana, it crumbles into a generalized (and confusingly worded) torch song. 

[hork]

Posted: 2/5/20 at 2:03am

Dancingthrulife2 said: "At the intermission now. Wow, what a letdown with such a promising cast. To be honest, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to have a Japanese ensemble when most of them have diction problemswith the English language, which is understandable but which inevitably makes it quite difficult to make out most of the lines, at least for me. (I do understand Japanese, but while peeking at the lyrics is no problem to me since I’m a fast reader, it just feels jarring.)Forthe first act, the pacing is all over the place,and I don’t feel the story, while there are some notable moments, is built up towards a conflict that demands an Act II to resolve nor somewhere interesting that Iwant to come back to and know more about. Ramin’s anthem about always having a place in his heart for his homeland that concludes Act I also comes out of nowhere and is not really earned nor the inevitable result of the plot development. I know that this is a sung through musical, but most of the big musics numbers just like the Act 1 finisher needmore contextualization.The use of projection/LED screen? also feels way too on the nose after being spoiled by some of the marvelous moments in van Hove’s WSS revival. It just doesn’t add anything to the storytelling and repeats what is already in the lyrics. To be honest, I don’t know if I should fault many of the jarring directing choices on the director or the material. From what I’ve seen the show seems to be a sung-thru musical that desperately needs some book(-ish) scenes to fill the gaps."

Chess is one of my favorite musicals but you're not wrong about the book. It never should have been a sung-through musical, and making it so only resulted in this weird, elliptical, lopsided story that neither flows nor arcs properly. Of course, when they did make it a book musical for the Broadway version, they somehow made it even worse. My hope is that someday, somehow, someone will figure out a way to make this musical work, because there's a brilliant piece of theater buried in there.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/5/20 at 4:19pm

I think the original London version is far better than the Broadway version. Between the two, since I believe those are the only two available to license officially, the London version is definitely the better choice.

[hork]

Posted: 2/5/20 at 10:08pm

Definitely. The London version is flawed but the Broadway version is just garbage.