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Posted: 6/20/17 at 1:05pm
I am a huge fan of the score, but admit that a cold war era story about Chess rivals is a hard sell. The fan has a huge cult fan base, but there are like 20 different versions of the show out there. It'll be very interesting to see what they do with this.
Posted: 6/20/17 at 1:17pm
TexanAddams18 said: "http://www.theatermania.com/broadway/news/tim-rice-chess-revival-broadway_81492.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=20jun2017"
As long as they cast it with leads who can actually sing, I'll go just for "I Know Him So Well" and "Anthem".
Posted: 6/20/17 at 2:42pm
I feel like there are a lot of songs in the score that seem compelling in concerts but when you listen to the entire album it feels messy. I've never really been able to understand the vibe of this show.
Posted: 6/20/17 at 2:47pm
Tim Rice certainly is determined to get it right. He can't seem to let it go.
Posted: 6/20/17 at 2:51pm
I think if you're a good person, and eat your vegetables, and every night you say a little prayer that there'll always be producers who are dumb enough to miss the fact that reviving mega-flops never results in a hit - maybe then you'll get your wish.
Posted: 6/20/17 at 3:15pm
From the article: "We've got a new team in who helped to restructure the storyline and it seemed to work really well as a tabletop production."
Did they really let them restructure it though? Because the only way to make the show work is to gut it. There's too many songs and not enough development of the characters, in my opinion. It needs a really strong book and to just focus on the big, well-known songs. The Royal Albert Hall concert highlighted that, I think. Songs like "Merano" drag it down.
Given the current social/political/economic climate, I don't think it will play well. Even if you somehow managed to do a complete re-write that took out all the USA vs USSR stuff. It'll either be written off as liberal propaganda or ignored due to fatigue with all things politics.
Posted: 6/20/17 at 3:20pm
This is gonna need some major rewrites and a really good director.
Posted: 6/20/17 at 3:35pm
I wonder if Groban would do it. He's talked about wanting to do Chess on Broadway before.
Posted: 6/20/17 at 3:41pm
NOWaWarning said: "I wonder if Groban would do it. He's talked about wanting to do Chess on Broadway before."
I think he would. He posted on Twitter or Instagram a short video of himself and a fan at the Great Comet stage door saying that it should be revived. I don't know if he'd be enough of a box office draw to make the show a success. Great Comet does better with him, of course, but I think it still would have gotten the same awards/nominations without him. Its run might not have been as long though.
Updated On: 6/20/17 at 03:41 PM
Posted: 6/20/17 at 3:43pm
If I had my way, Groban would be involved but I can't imagine he'd want to do another long run on Broadway so soon. Carmen Cusack would also be a great Florence.
Posted: 6/20/17 at 3:53pm
now my excitement to come back to visit NYC and Broadway is building once more...i have always wanted to see this on stage...i watch the concert version dvd all the time and love Idina Menzel, Josh Groban and Adam Pascal...lets hope the voices they get for the revival will match or succeed these...
Posted: 6/20/17 at 5:45pm
BroadwayConcierge said: "Why? (Seriously asking—not trying to be snarky.)"
Stephen Sondheim has said that after the failure of Allegro, Oscar Hammerstein seemed obsessed with fixing it. Sondheim even realized in hindsight that Merrily We Roll Along was something of his own attempt to fix Allegro.
Theater fans become obsessed with these shows that seem to reach for something great - but fall short. Sondheim's Follies and Merrily certainly fit in to those categories. We are certain there is a masterpiece there that can be uncovered with the right approach and a little restructuring.
Chess is one of those shows for some fans. The music is intoxicating and the political intrigue seems perfect for the game metaphor.
There are only two problems: the book and the score. The book has been rewritten with every incarnation. But I don't think people realize that the score isn't good at all as a theater score. The musical scenes, such as they are, are awkward and stilted. The character songs don't arise out of circumstances - they seem to be pasted on. It plays almost like a jukebox musical that has the catalog of great songs that it has to work into a plot somehow.
Don't get me wrong, I love the album. And I saw the original London production, the Broadway production, and the National Tour, and the Albert Hall concert on PBS - each telling a slightly different story. By far, the best of the bunch was London. It's a very European story and I think they got that aspect and it looked at the cold war from a side angle. Once it became Americanized the subtly was gone.
I am more than happy to have people take a shot at putting the album from the ABBA guys on stage, but don't count on me to sit through it unless I hear it is really great.
Updated On: 6/20/17 at 05:45 PM
Posted: 6/20/17 at 5:46pm
I go to Lincoln Center every couple of years to watch the Broadway "Chess". I have never understood the problems people had with the book (as a whole, there are things that definitely need rethinking, but). I think the book really fleshes out the characters, I so believe the love story between Anatoly and Florence, rethinking Freddy as an ego-filled all-American bad boy-type was a wonderful improvement on the fey bitch from the original. Tim Rice hates that so much of the songs from the original concept album were cut or reworked, but as the original showed, and the concert versions, there are too many songs, the show doesn't even start till halfway through Act One, etc. And remember, the book was by friggin' Richard Nelson. No slouch. Though, admittedly, it would be hard to replace the greatness of that original cast.
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