Chess Synopsis
Chess Synopsis
#0Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:50pmDoes anyone have a synopsis of Chess? I got the Actor's Benefit Cast recording and I want to know what actually happens.
#1re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:56pm
A lot.
Florence, who is Freddie's assistants, meets a Russian and falls in love. This Russian happens to be Freddie's opponent. Love triangle ensues as Svetlana, Anatoly's wife gets involved.
But the real drama starts when the American embassy tells Florence that her father is still alive (after all these years thinking he was dead), and at the end finds out that the Embassy lied to Florence.
In between is just boring, as they are the most interesting stories of the plot. I suggest buying the script. It's a good read, and about 5 bucks.
"Do you know what pledge time is, Andrew"? said the PBS Executive.
"Yes", Lloyd Webber replied. "My 50th birthday special must be one program that gets done a lot."
"No", mused the man from PBS heedlessy. "Not so much. Our Stephen Sondheim Carnegie Hall concert. That's a big one."
Spoons, forks and knives seemed suddenly to suspend their motion in horror, all around the table.
FranklinShepard-Inc.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/25/04
#2re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 2:59pm
http://www.musicals.net/cgi-bin/synopsis?sn=14&show=Chess
There, that should help 
#3re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:14pmThanks! I really want to see it! I can't really imagien Sutton Foster in it, but oh well!
insomniak
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/7/04
#5re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:17pmI looooooove the score to Chess. It took me a while to get the plot down, though.
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#6re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:22pm
I would *love* to hear Sutton sing "Someone Else's Story". Raúl said she was fantastic.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
#7re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:22pm
CHESS is one of my favorites!
My Fair Lady, where did you get a recording of the Actor's Fund concert? There wasn't one made, to my knowledge.
ScottInLA
Stand-by Joined: 1/15/05
#8re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:23pmI can understand the plot taking a while to get down, especially since every version I've seen or heard is slightly (or hugely) different than the others. Updated On: 2/25/05 at 03:23 PM
commasplice
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/29/04
#9re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:27pmDitto to all the curiosity expressed above! I wish they had made an actual recording.. I would have bought it in a second.
#10re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:27pmThere wasn't a recording made. One kind person recorded it live and another kind person sent it to me. And of course, I didn't get "Someone Else's Story."
#11re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:27pmThe Danish Touring Cast Recording is the most complete and is closest to the original concept cast recording as far as plot. CHESS needs to be performed as a period piece, the 1980's especially, to make any sense.
#12re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:27pmThat's true...there are versions where the "Florence's father" subplot is dropped entirely. Sometimes Freddie wins the final match; sometimes Anatoly wins. In the most recent Swedish production, Anatoly and Svetlana have a little boy who figures prominently in his decision-making. Song lists (and lyrics) vary a lot too. :)
#13re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:30pm
I have "Nobody's on Nobody's Side" (that's what it's called, right?) stuck in my head.
... the song that Raul messed up, Chrys!! 
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#14re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:33pm
he he he....LOL! I love that!
ETA: I want to see the rehearsal footage again, where Raul was sassing Seth.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
Updated On: 2/25/05 at 03:33 PM
#15re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:34pm
In the original, Freddie Trumper comes to Bangkok as a reporter, not as a player. Anatoly plays some Russian automaton for the title. The Broadway version had Anatoly and Freddie playing each other in both championships and located the first tournament in Bangkok in Act 1 and the second tournament in Budapest in Act 2.
How did Raul mess up "Nobody's Side?" That's Florence's song.
#16re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:37pmIn the benefit, like five of them sang it together. Raul missed the final cutoff. Seth Rudetsky showed the tape at the Chatterbox, and won't ever let him live it down.
insomniak
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/7/04
#17re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:39pm
What'd he say?
For future reference: mentioning bootlegs on the board is not a good idea.
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#18re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:39pmI guess you had to be there, but Seth gave him a *very* hard time.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
Updated On: 2/25/05 at 03:39 PM
#19re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:41pmI don't remember what Raul said about it, but he showed the clip at Adam's Chatterbox, too. Adam was like "oh, so the best clip of ME was when Raul f*cked up?!" The tape wasn't cued up, and Seth played the wrong clip.
#20re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:42pmI Know Him So Well is my favorite female duet song.
I want to write music. I want to sit down right now at my piano and write a song that people will listen to and remember and do the same thing every morning...for the rest of my life. - Jonathan Larson. Tick, Tick...BOOM!
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#21re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:42pm
Seth said something like "What, what is this?" "You couldn't watch me and cut off with everyone else?" And he kept rewinding it! So that EVERYONE knew Raul had messed up.
And Raul just sat there and took it like a man.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
Updated On: 2/25/05 at 03:42 PM
#23re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:43pm
awww, poor baby. Not being perfect for what.... three seconds?
#24re: Chess Synopsis
Posted: 2/25/05 at 3:45pmTGIF, have you ever heard "Herren's Underwerk" from KRISTINA FRAN DUVEMALA? It's a female duet by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, too.
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