Chess

I trust they’re using the original European lyrics??

50 seconds of that was enough for me. How to ruin it.

In preparation for going at the end of May I watched the dvd of the Albert hall concert of Chess tonight. I had forgotten what a fabulous score it is. Hope this production sounds as good as they did tonight, although Ball is no Groban and Jansen no Menzel and Burke no Ellis. Who am I kidding!Well I am sure it will sound good anyway with the Orchestra and choir.

It sounds a bit like Wicked when it first opened anyway. And now nearly 12 years later it’s kind of a West End staple. (even though the theatre is in Victoria). I highly doubt Chess will last as long as this but it seems like things may get either better or worse for it. I enjoy Burke as a performer so I’ll probably try and scoop up some audios over time of the show to see what I think.

Edit: All this time I thought Chess was a brand new musical with an open run and now I’ve done some research on it and feel so ignorant. This is a 5-week limited season revival and not a big new production. I think it will probably tour after this as they wouldn’t just cast and choreograph a production for 5 weeks and leave it like that?

Just edited my post. Didn’t actually know of Chess beforehand and thought it was a new musical. Feel very ignorant.

Let’s put it this way, I have little to no knowledge of more older/classic shows and I genuinely thought this was a new show until I looked it up.. Sometimes I say things that don’t quite make total sense. Lesson learned, always research a show before posting on its thread...

Edit: I thought it might help by mentioning that I’m 14 and I only really got into theatre and its ways in late 2016 which is why I’m not really familiar with “legacy” shows like this. I try to go to the theatre as often as I can but I’m just not as much of an expert as others.

I’m just depressed that you’d call Chess a “legacy” show. To me that’s South Pacific or My Fair Lady :-)

No, it’s only because it made me feel old :-)

Don’t give up!

Tumbleweed.................

That does sound about normal for a West End musical. 15-20 mins is probably the interval which makes the show about 2.5 hours.

Don't feel ignorant- we certainly aren't all born knowing everything (despite what some of this lot her might like to think ) there's no reason having gotten into musicals recently- and being far too young to remember the original- that you should know Chess. 

I've been a musicals never for about 15 years now and I quite often come across things I don't know about that apparently are 'super famous' and 'important'. 

I really loved this tonight! I thought it was great.

Ok, the sound/diction for the large group numbers were a mess and even knowing the score well didn't help decipher what they were singing, but for  the main scenes/songs, the sound was excellent. Really good use of the screens at the sides and thankfully the audio and visual were in synch. Excellent set design and lighting.

I thought the 4 leads were all great, and i don't understand the bashing of Alexandra Burke. I thought she was fantastic vocally. Yes she might not act the songs enough, but she definitely gets it across well. I really liked the new song for Svetlana at the top of Act 2.Would i pay to see Alexandra play Florence? Yep! Michael Ball was back to form, none of his cabaret nonsense and mannerisms, but it must be said, he's also not the greatest actor. Cassidy Jensen was very good, but she didnt blow me away and Tim Howar definitely has the chops for Freddie. The women's roles are very underwritten and there's no real introduction to either of them in the show.

The orchestra sounded glorious, as were the extra chorus brought in for the second half.

The biggest applause was for I Know Him So Well, but me for the best number was The Deal. It's always been one of my favourite songs in the score and in this production it had an amazing sound and fantastic guitar riffs, and a great drum beat throughout, something that i felt was missing from Nobody's Side. I only wish there was a pause for applause for it, before it goes into Pity The Child. On the Danish Tour recording, at the very end, after You and I, there's a finale, with Florence singing a reprise of Anthem, and to me that was a better ending than just You and I.

Maybe it's because my expectations were lowered by people on here, or maybe because i only paid £22 instead of £65, but i thought was great and i'll definitely be going again before it ends.