Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit, and Nicholas Christopher in 2025 Chess Revival!- Page 21

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 3:18pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "Someone Else’s Story is far and away the best female number in the show and Florence should have it. I think Endgame and the duet are plenty for Svetlana. She’s really a cameo like Florence’s dad."

this is something we agree on. Although Svetlana is also in Deal or No Deal as well.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 5:35pm

quizking101 said: "It appears they are telegraphing a drop of Lea Michele singing “Someone Else’s Story” tomorrow."

If this is true, then I will be very happy. It was written for Florence and the lyrics - though a little hard to parse on first listen - pertain specifically to her situation. I hope they wrote a new song for Svetlana.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 6:26pm

I wondered who the actor on the right was in the principals photo, then when I read that it was Bryce Pinkham I found myself doing a triple take.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photos-CHESS-Begins-Rehearsals-with-Aaron-Tveit-Lea-Michele-Nicholas-Christopher-and-More-20250909

Does anyone know if they offered this to Raul? With so many Kennedy Centre people in it and all. 

[inception]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 7:18pm

According to Wikipedia Pinkham was the Arbiter at the 2018  Kennedy Center performances.

This whole cast might make me feel like I'm at a Korn concert.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/9/25 at 7:23pm

Yes indeed, he just looks nothing like I remember him. I suppose I really haven’t seen him since Holiday Inn. 

I wonder if he’s ever been offered King George. The ship has sailed on that I guess. It would have been within the first couple of years if at all. But with multiple Broadway names about to do fall in Ogunquit, anything’s possible! 

[DeNada]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 2:06am

GirlFromOz68 said: "
when I worked that out i was shocked given its been given to Svetlana in so many productions since the Broadway production where it was written for Judy Kuhn, which makes me wonder what if any solo Svetlana will have."

The last production of Chess I saw was at the ENO, and they gave Svetlana BOTH Someone Else's Story and He Is A Man, He Is A Child, which was a song added to the show for the Swedish production in the early 00s (it's only an "okay" song, really).  Maybe that's been added for this production.

I don't mind who they give Someone Else's Story to as long as a) it's not just staged as a "park and bark" song and b) it has a sensible orchestration.  The Albert Hall concert with Idina Menzel gave it this awful country and western guitar twang, for instance.  The Swedish version, where Florence sings it in a hotel bar and is mostly accompanied by piano, is one of the better ones.

 

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 4:16am

He is Man, He is a Child is not one I'm familiar with so I went and had a listen. It is certainly a better fit lyrically for Svetlana than Someone Else's Story.

Excellent profile in Vanity Fair of Chess with Michael,  Danny, Lea,  Aaron and Nik.

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/style/story/broadway-vets-chess-musical

Updated On: 9/10/25 at 04:16 AM

[always bway]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 8:01am

Oh I just listened to it. Thank you. Wow, such a beautiful song. Yes, def more appropriate for Svetlana. How have I never heard it before??

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 8:08am

Just realized I was was being vague upthread so I’ll fix it now. 
Does anyone know if Raul was offered Freddie for this production, with so many Kennedy Center people returning? He feels more right in the role than Aaron, and I think a Freddie who’s a bit older than Anatoly could be interesting. 

Or Ramin for that matter? I’m somehow remembering him mentioned for negotiations but then he outright said he wasn’t doing it at a stage door. In any case, I think Nicholas is far more right than Ramin. The part needs some enigma to it, which I see in Nicholas. Whereas Ramin keeps no secrets. 

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 8:14am

Raul is 54 years old.  That's well amd truly aged out of playing Freddie.

Given they had Darren Criss play the role in the 2022 concert instead of Raul continuing in the role after he played it in 2018 when he was still in his 40s it seems they decided even 3 years ago they wanted to go younger, even if Darren was wrong in the role.

As for Ramin, he doesn't seem to want to.do long runs these days, and his family is in the UK.  

Updated On: 9/10/25 at 08:14 AM

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 1:09pm

Why is Lea singing “ Someone Else’s Story” 

Why is it lacking emotion 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 1:20pm

I like her performance but the mixing here is worse than the other two. 

Nobody:
Percussion: !!!!!!!

It's a bit fast at the start for me. And that extra measure after "ask me twice" is a mess. Who approved that?

https://youtu.be/w7K-NtCoYIo?si=E9c6qJDhNj037uPM

Updated On: 9/10/25 at 01:20 PM

[DeNada]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 1:50pm

Oh dear.  Not the orchestration I was hoping for.  Why are the lovely woodwind lines for "and if that girl I knew should ask my advice..." buried behind the awful twangy electric piano? They could at least have resurrected the 80s synths.  Maybe it'll be better in the theatre.

Not a fan of the interpretation; feels like a pop song being sung rather than with any feeling.  The two great interpreters of this song - Judy Kuhn and Helen Sjoholm - give performances that I feel have greater emotional truth behind them.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 1:58pm

Starting note to end note, Lea's version is timing out as 20 seconds "shorter" than the OBC version. That may sound insignificant in the scheme of things but it's really a much quicker tempo. It can be much easier to find the emotion when there's more time to do it, and I'm sorry they didn't feel the difference and that no one at all said "This feels fast".

[Superboy2]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 1:59pm

DeNada said: "Ohdear. Not the orchestration I was hoping for. Why are the lovely woodwind lines for "and if that girl I knew should ask my advice..." buried behind the awful twangy electric piano? They could at least have resurrected the 80s synths. Maybe it'll be better in the theatre.

Not a fan of the interpretation; feels like a pop song being sung rather than with any feeling. The two great interpreters of this song - Judy Kuhn and Helen Sjoholm -give performances that I feel have greater emotional truth behind them."

Totally agree - she’s singing the Glee cover of the song here instead of actually performing it. 
 

Really bummed that this and Aaron’s Bangkok were such duds, losing hope that this will be good…

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 2:04pm

I have faith it will sound much better in the context at The Imperial Theatre. 

[mshalo18]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 2:16pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "I have faith it will sound much better in the context at The Imperial Theatre."

I agree, I just hope the sound design is decent.  

[malcs98]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 2:24pm

mshalo18 said: "BCfitasafiddle said: "I have faith it will sound much better in the context at The Imperial Theatre."

I agree, I just hope the sound design is decent."

John Shivers is doing the sound design

[Mr.Liir]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 2:50pm

John Shivers knows his **** - it will sound amazing. That is the least of the things to worry about in this show.

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 3:06pm

rosscoe(au) said: "Why is Lea singing “ Someone Else’s Story”

Why is it lacking emotion"

I dont think it lacks emotion and it was originally written for Florence and it never lyrically made sense for Svetlana. 

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 3:26pm

One song I really liked in the Broadway version was "No Contest." It was just a quick banger that re-cued the rivalry between Freddie and Anatoly. Has that been used in any of the various revisions?

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 3:32pm

carolinaguy said: "One song I really liked in the Broadway version was "No Contest." It was just a quick banger that re-cued the rivalry between Freddie and Anatoly. Has that been used in any of the various revisions?"

This was originally The Deal, and has been reverted back to The Deal ever since the OBC. It’s sung by several characters. Great tune. 

[binau]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 4:44pm

I've kind of loved all the clips released so far. The quality always gets better either in the show or eventual cast recording (e.g. Look at the Maybe Happy Ending demo tracks or years ago the Bridges of Madison County clips released vs cast recording). But they show that this 'Chess' is going to be very easy on the ears. I have a feeling it might end up being the definitive aural record of the show. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 4:50pm

If you're wondering how long the show is in its various incarnations, the Danish Complete recording (an English-language reconstruction of the original London production plus Someone Else's Story) runs about two hours and ten.

Interesting that Mr. Vassey is on the list; makes it likelier we get the "happy ending" rather than the "everything sucks" ending.

[CJRochester]

Posted: 9/10/25 at 4:57pm

I love Someone Else's Story as a song, but this sounds too sweet and sanitized. Where is the passion she had in Don't Rain On My Parade? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7K-NtCoYIo