Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit, and Nicholas Christopher in 2025 Chess Revival!- Page 15

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/14/25 at 8:42am

I so appreciated Mary Poppins post above. Apparently Strong's kept "Merano," which means the show opens as an operetta in the Alps. That may prove an ironic frame on the dark, intimate piece that follows rather than verisimilitude-establishing old school musical theater. But it'll be a challenge. Ditto, as noted, "Bangkok," an earworm-fueled pop hit that can feel self-indulgent in 2025. In other words, does an audience need to know about these contrasted cultures as a context for the competition and personal contention? And since neither locale has much to do with Russia and the US, the nations that engage in a tug of war (ludicrously, as many reviews noted - even after the Kennedy Center) do they add or detract? I can see a 100 minute intermission free iteration that pushes the triangle downstage, strips away the creatives' original desire to build a big musical drama, and lets the story's stakes remain personal. (This has been tried in several places with Camelot, and I'm not talking Sorkin's cheesey revision.) Less is often more with West End bombast, and this score - and I've loved it since I bought the concept album - quickly turns to bombast.  

[Anastasia_Beaverhausen]

Posted: 8/14/25 at 9:53am

Also, producers are holding tons of the better seats for every performance, and the first 3 rows aren't even on sale yet.....so, my guess is it REALLY isn't selling well. Bring on the discounts!! 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 8/16/25 at 8:18pm

Here's the Aaron version of the marketing:

https://imgur.com/a/hye9oGO

[Mary_Poppins]

Posted: 8/21/25 at 6:23pm

Some BTS footage of them working, but no audio.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNn3FYsgn5j/

I can't believe that some material from Lea's press day for her Lysol ad campaign has made it into this Chess promo. I recently mentioned that in this thread, thinking it was for Chess and felt a bit embarrassed afterwards. So it turns out I wasn't entirely wrong after all.

Another amusing detail: The footage they use for illustration when Lea talks about rehearsing for Funny Girl without the other principal cast is actually from her tour preparation. Parade Magazine, who originally published the interview put that in. The Chess people just kept it, probably because they don't have permission for the real FG rehearsal footage with music and all.

Updated On: 8/21/25 at 06:23 PM

[Huss417]

Posted: 8/26/25 at 4:25pm

I noticed today that Rows AA and A in the Center Orchestra have now been released for sale if anyone is interested.

[Anastasia_Beaverhausen]

Posted: 8/26/25 at 4:36pm

Yeah, for $450. Ridiculous. Front row mezzanine seats have opened up too for $351. A little better but still. CRAZY prices!!!

[BwayinVan]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 1:11pm

Is this a limited run or are they in a wait and see. I see tickets are only on sale till March. I’d love to see this but won’t be back in the city till April. I know it may be hard to tell right now and things will change once reviews come out. 

[theatrejunkie007]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 1:54pm

it's an open-ended run so hoping it runs a long time!

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 2:49pm

Seems like either a music video or demo recording of “One Night in Bangkok” will drop tomorrow. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 3:02pm

Anastasia_Beaverhausen said: "Yeah, for $450. Ridiculous. Front row mezzanine seats have opened up too for $351. A little better but still. CRAZY prices!!!"

Look for a code right after Labor day, Karen Walker!

Updated On: 8/27/25 at 03:02 PM

[theatrejunkie007]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 3:08pm

CHESS is gonna be HUGE

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 4:21pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Seems like either a music video or demo recording of“One Night in Bangkok” will droptomorrow."

is that a guess because of that fuzzy photo of Aaron and hint of something being dropped tomorrow or you know something ?   Lea posted a photo of herself behind a microphone in what looked to be one of those recording booths they use for Broadway recordings a couple of weeks ago so I was guessing it was related to that but maybe they will release a few videos of each of them singing a variety of songs from the show. 

[SisterGeorge]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 6:44pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Seems like either a music video or demo recording of“One Night in Bangkok” will droptomorrow."

Speaking of, anyone know of a delicious, nice-looking Thai restaurant in walking distance to the theater? The evening is an anniversary treat for the parents, so nothing too funky or hole-in-the-wallish. Thanks.

[suzcap]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 6:48pm

In the Instagram comments "Sweaty O" says it is the announcement of Svetlana, so take with grain of salt.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 6:55pm

SisterGeorge said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "Seems like either a music video or demo recording of“One Night in Bangkok” will droptomorrow."

Speaking of, anyone know of a delicious, nice-looking Thai restaurant in walking distance to the theater? The evening is an anniversary treat for the parents, so nothing too funky or hole-in-the-wallish. Thanks."

There are a slew of Thai places on 9th avenue that are all pretty good. Obao, Elephant Ear, and Viv are all less than a 10 minute walk from the Imperial and are all elevated in terms of decor. 

Updated On: 8/27/25 at 06:55 PM

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 7:13pm

suzcap said: "In the Instagram comments "Sweaty O" says it is the announcement of Svetlana, so take with grain of salt."

huge grain of salt.  I dont think they would be making a huge fuss about that, no disrespect to Hannah Cruz.  At this point given they are so close to rehearsals starting they might wait until then or they announce not only Svetlana but Molokov,  The Arbiter and Walter as well.  There is a tendency to forget Svetlana is only in Act 2.

I still think its music related but that is only a guess.

[Shubert Alley Cat]

Posted: 8/27/25 at 8:02pm

GirlFromOz68 said: "suzcap said: "In the Instagram comments "Sweaty O" says it is the announcement of Svetlana, so take with grain of salt."

huge grain of salt. I dont think they would be making a huge fuss about that, no disrespect to Hannah Cruz. At this point given they are so close to rehearsals starting they might wait until then or they announcenot only Svetlana but Molokov, The Arbiter and Walter as well. There is a tendency to forget Svetlana is only in Act 2.

I still think its music related but that is only a guess."

Would Svetlana be considered a “princess track?”

[Ptero2]

Posted: 8/28/25 at 1:16pm

One Night in Bangkok snippet:

https://youtu.be/N1_0r_hf_dg?si=DO-pvNyHJgB4UCJK

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 8/28/25 at 1:22pm

Great notes but he misses the internal rhyme of “in a” and “Brynner” and I can’t tell if it’s bad acting or bad mixing but some of his other words come across with strange pronunciation.

And it looks like they’re sticking with the pink.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 8/28/25 at 1:26pm

Maybe I'm just used to Murray Head singing it but I feel like Aaron Tveit lacks some of the "edge", especially in the semi-spoken part in the beginning.  But I think it's also hard to judge from an audio snippet alone and he does sound pretty good on the chorus, even if his voice is a bit more "classic" than I'd want for Freddie.

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/28/25 at 1:31pm

It’s probably a demo track, so I’m sure there is wiggle room to fix it for an actual cast recording down the road.

This snippet did warm me up to the idea of Tveit as Freddie a bit more than I expected. He has that adult cockiness in his voice that sounds like his character from “Catch Me If You Can” finally grew up. However, “One Night In Bangkok” is by no means a hard song and can be talk-sung so long as the tempo is kept. The real test is going to be when he has to sing “Pity The Child”.

I still wish Tveit and Christopher were in each others’ role but I’ll live.

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/28/25 at 1:45pm

Quizking101, I hope you are right. They need to throw that edge and bass back into the song. JMO

 

Tveit says the show is being presented as almost a concert evening in this interview:

 

https://ew.com/listen-aaron-tveit-sing-1980s-hit-one-night-in-bangkok-chess-exclusive-11799241

 

 

Updated On: 8/28/25 at 01:45 PM

[Dolly80]

Posted: 8/28/25 at 1:47pm

Presented as a concert? Erm- and how much are they selling tickets for?

Now worried about this production.

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/28/25 at 1:52pm

Dolly80 said: "Presented as a concert? Erm- and how much are they selling tickets for?

Now worried about this production."

 

Almost a concert. 

 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 8/28/25 at 2:00pm

"It's being presented as almost a concert evening," he says. "There's real book scenes and everything, but it's in the sense that we are all players putting forward this piece and everyone can come and go out of scenes. A lot of people are going to be on stage at the same time“

Lame. Chess has waited this long to be done right, only to be done dirty.

The half-baked branding was our first clue.