Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit, and Nicholas Christopher in 2025 Chess Revival!- Page 11

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/28/25 at 12:07pm

“A New Musical” came from Annie, right? It was playing with the “a new blank, a new blank, a new… deal” scene. But it stuck and became the expected nomenclature. At least Chess the Musical is possibly differentiating itself from Chess the album and Chess the concert. 

This whole ad campaign seems designed to evoke “Challengers,” but with chess instead of tennis. Unfortunately for the audience craving threesome action, the two men of the triangle meet only once or twice, and only one of them is queer (and only in some versions of the libretto).

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 7/4/25 at 5:22am

Well it appears all the complaints have been heard. I went to the Chess site tonight as I was interested to have a look at how well it was selling this early and apart from the links to the other parts of the site the red and pink has completely disappeared. The red and pink lettering in the promo video has been replaced with black and white.

So does this mean a complete rethink of posters, merch etc is on the way? 

Edited to add the ad on this site is still the pink and red but I assume it takes time to change these things apart from the main site.

Updated On: 7/4/25 at 05:22 AM

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 7/4/25 at 8:05am

Pernigraniline said: "Ke3 said: "I knows it's nothing in the long run but god does "The Musical" annoy me when there is no source material you're looking to differentiate from. "Chess: the Musical" We can infer that. What the hell else would it be? Chess: The Radio Play."

Chess the actual game. US citizens/tourists could well get confused thinking its an actual game of chess (ew don't like chess), not a musical (yeh man I like musicals)"

I think it’s mostly so people know it’s a musical and not a play, which is what I think most people would assume if they weren’t familiar with Chess already. Notice that play titles rarely include “the play.”

[shomeika]

Posted: 7/4/25 at 10:06am

I adore the music and score from Chess.  As a Benny and Bjorn fan, I found it enthralling. However, I have seen two local productions of the show and was bored and confused out of my mind.

One was at the Alliance Theater, and they pumped a lot of money into it. The vocals, the score were excellent, but people were fidgeting in the second act, and just leaving.

Given that the show has a cult following of sorts now, and the music is highly regarded, I would think this is a one time shot in getting the book right.

 

Does anyone know much about the people involved in this production? I am wondering how *different* it will be from prior productions.  My fave version was the "In Concert" one a few years back.

 

I just hope this is fabulous, well reviewed, and will crown Benny/Bjorn/Tim as "successes" this time around.

 

I am nervous but hopeful.  Psychic predictions, anyone?

 

[BJR]

Posted: 7/4/25 at 11:52am

shomeika said: "Does anyone know much about the people involved in this production? I am wondering how *different* it will be from prior productions. My fave version was the "In Concert" one a few years back."

It's the same team as the 2018 Kennedy Center and 2022 concert.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/4/25 at 5:30pm

I'm wondering how it sells this time around.

Was the financial success Lea brought to FUNNY GIRL a fluke because of GLEE and the title, or will she sell equally well here? (Tveit adds a little something but not a substantial amount.) And, if it gets a worse critical response than things like SUNSET BLVD and GYPSY, is there still a pathway to success?

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/4/25 at 11:02pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I'm wondering how it sells this time around.

Was the financial success Lea brought to FUNNY GIRL a fluke because of GLEE and the title, or will she sell equally well here? (Tveit adds a little something but not a substantial amount.) And, if it gets a worse critical response than things like SUNSET BLVD and GYPSY, is there still a pathway to success?"

Lea was also playing Fanny Brice and carried the entire show on her shoulders. It was a great performance with a sort of Cinderella story PLUS she got to ride in on a white horse and save the day with enormous press coverage to boot. 

Florence IMO does not give Lea the opportunity that Fanny Brice did, both in the role itself and in the backstory preceding her arrival.  In addition, I have always felt that Anatoly was the lead role.  Even if she is great -- and I am expecting her to be so -- there are two other very talented performers with roles that are at least as good as hers, and arguably better.  I don't think it would be reasonable to either particularly credit her if it is a success or blame her if it is not, unless she is terrible in the role...which is not going to happen.

As much as I want this show to be a big hit and make everyone a lot of money -- and I have already splurged to purchase my tickets for mid-October -- I will be surprised if it does.  The last time I saw this was at the Signature in Shirlington, VA, over a decade ago.  I loved the performance and thought it was the most successful of any I had seen, yet I still did not feel that they solved the problem that has plagued it from the beginning.  Despite all the sturm und drung, it has always felt very cold to me, and I think that has always been its biggest problem...getting the audience to genuinely care about the characters.

 

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 7/5/25 at 12:13am

That is the job that Lea and Nicholas have this time around, to make people care about the relationship between Anatoly and Florence. I think if they can do that it will help a great deal.

I think one of the changes that Danny has made helps this. The

 

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four years

 between the two tournaments gives what happens in Act 2 more stakes for that relationship than other versions where there is not much time between the tournaments.

I can't remember which version it was, but I've always wondered how could you make people care about what happens between Florence and Anatoly if the whole show takes place over one weekend? There are no stakes there as opposed to two people who have been together for

 

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four years

 by the time you get to the end.

Added spoilers just in case there are people who don't want to know the details of this version of the show (as it stood in 2022) before they see it.

Updated On: 7/5/25 at 12:13 AM