Chess

Yes. Or rather, both. There's a demo of 'Just Like That' in which the 'When The Waves Roll Out To Sea"/"Glöm mig om du kan" melody forms the song's verse. There are other versions of the song that are completely different, and the title has been applied to more than one melody.

Just came back from tonight's performance and overall I was thrilled with the staging and the singing. That wall of sound from the orchestra was everything that glorious score deserved.

Chess was the very first cast recording I bought on double cassette(!) so it has a special place in my heart. However I do recognise that it is a magnificent score in search of a coherent book. And this is where the ENO production fell short. It seemed like the director couldn't decide whether to focus on the politics or the relationships and in the end it did neither satisfactorily. I thought the RAH production at least made some sort of sense with Florence being betrayed in the end thus underlining the everyone's-a-pawn analogy. Even CRH's version made more sense as it centred on the relationships whilst glossing over the politics with tinsel and razzmatazz.

The ENO version simply didn't gel. I never felt Svetlana was in any sort of bind. Why did Freddie just mention the Indian defence out of nowhere (it literally was a wtf moment for me)?

But I went for the singing and on that count, it was everything I could expect. Even Ms Burke surprised me as I really enjoyed her take. I Know Him So Well was beautifully rendered by the two leading ladies. Ms Janson was on fire tonight. Nobody's Side was a tour de force and You And I was a real emotional moment with tears running down her face (not the Demi Moore in Ghost elegant tears type crying). Mr Ball killed it with Anthem - an unforgettable theatrical moment - but then dropped the er...ball in Endgame. I'm not quite sure what happened but I think he came in a line too early during "How you've hated my success! There was an awkward silence before Ms Burke recovered with her part. Performance of the night for me was Tim Howar's Pity the Child which earned the loudest applause. My goodness - that was a full on tremendous roar of a performance.

The sound was fine to my ears. Yes, the choral numbers was somewhat muddled but I do think it's down to the lyrics. If you listen to the concept album, it's also really difficult to make out the words unless you're reading the booklet. I thought the staging was great. I especially liked the private jet scene. Cute!

The worst scene for me was One Night in Bangkok. Being Asian, I didn't take offence at the fake Asians. I just thought it wasn't very imaginatively staged. Almost like a second rate take on What a Waste from Miss Saigon. The choreography was hackneyed and the aerial acrobatics were not in sync and looked messy.

Overall I enjoyed it. Chess will always be a polarising musical and I suppose for a Chesshead like me, the fascination lies in the ever evolving book. I've seen various productions of Chess and if I were to rank them all, it would be:

1. 90s tour with Rebecca Storm/Maurice Clark
2. CRH version
3. Union version
4. ENO
5. RAH
6. Am-dram in Watford(!)

Having said that, I've booked to see it again. It will probably be the last chance to experience such a large production in the West End in my lifetime and when it worked, it worked really well.

On my way down to see this today - really looking forward to it!

The beauty of the Union Theatre production was the characterisation. The fact that wherever you sat you were less than three rows from the stage enabled you to see ever emotion and expression from cast members. They had the genius of casting Molokov as a woman and made her character more sinister. The relationship between Freddie and Florence was more sexual and violent. They almost excercised Walter from the show and added more humour especially in the new role of newscaster Angela St Angelo which was played as dumb blond American with no interest in Chess but was equally as Machiavellian manipulating characters for her advantage. The staging of Qyartet where the four leads pulled her about the stage in an interview was really humourous. What it lacked in sets and costumes (looked liked they’d raided jumble sales) it maximised in staging and the tension built to. And the bravery to cut small sections of songs moved the show along at a quicker pace. Loved the violent opening scene when Flirence’s Father disappeared and it implied Molokova had been responsible for betraying or instrumental in the possible murder of Florence’s father. It left an entire cast dead on stage who then rise from the dead to sing lines fromThe Story of Chess.
Several of the cast are now leading West End actors.

Just dug out the program for the show. Natasha J Barnes played Svetlana! I totally agree with your critique. The small space really lent an air of urgency to the piece and without any mikes, amplification, or sets to distract, our focus was only ever on the characters as there was nothing to hide behind. I Know Him So Well was also nicely done with the two ladies sitting opposite each other, separated by an invisible make up mirror. I felt that because the ladies were not interacting with each other, the song felt more natural and poignant. It was a real highlight.

I remember the reviews were generally positive though everyone always came back to the problematic book. 

They do advise their policy on food and drink bought elsewhere (including water, which they were certainly enforcing during Bat last year, but maybe they’ve softened on that) in the email they send out a couple of days before your visit... of course that may not apply if you’ve booked other than via ENO. I transferred my water bottle to my pocket before bag check but needn’t have bothered because they certainly weren’t bothered about checking them!

As for the production, as I’ve said way up thread, I’ve been in love with the Chess score since I went to the first ever live performance of the concept album at the Barbican back in the 80s and I was never NOT going to go to a production with a full orchestra, regardless of who they cast.

[slightly spoilery re staging details so perhaps don’t read on if you want to see it fresh]

It wasn’t the *best* sung version I’ve seen, indeed there were moments (from nearly all the principal cast) which had me shaking my head, sad that vocal grand-standing was sometimes more important than honouring a beautiful score. But overall, I loved it - loved the wall of sound (as someone called it above) from orchestra and full chorus. Loved the ‘big’ numbers - the night I was there, ‘I Know Him So Well’ probably got the loudest applause, but I think Tim Howar’s ‘Pity the Child’ was my personal highlight, rather in contrast to my overall view of his performance. Ball’s ‘Anthem’ got a huge response but I’ve heard it sung better recently and couldn’t entirely put that out of my mind as I listened.

I thought the staging was pretty ambitious for a ‘semi-staged’ version and from where I was sitting, centre front row, worked well (except for the rather wobbly rising platform on which the chess games take place - view not the best from front Stalls, but the big screens either side do their best to compensate - it was the only time I watched them closely, no singing meant no distraction from out-of-synch lips. Could have done with an overhead view of the chessboard itself behind the Arbiter but unnecessary for most of the audience who could see the board itself).

The sound wasn’t perfect, and if I didn’t know the lyrics as well as I do, I would have struggled to hear them I think. I found the pace a little slow compared to the original concept album (different but fine) and I wondered if that was a deliberate move to try and minimise the out-of-synch video issues (still not resolved regardless of what the show’s twitter account proudly boasted a couple of previews in). I was disappointed with the staging of ‘One Night in Bangkok’ - lazy the best word I can come up with to describe it - and slightly surprised to discover I still know all the words to the ‘Embassy Lament’ (no I didn’t sing along!).

I’m going back again towards the end of the run and have no doubt I’ll come out smiling and singing ‘Merano’ as I did on Thursday.

Thanks for the warning.

I’m sure Michael enjoyed an appreciative hand upon his entrance.

(Just thought I’d get that one in before Ryan 👍)

I was up in the balcony and a lot of people clapped as he rose at the front and began his first line - the two woman next to me we’re going ‘there he is’ and pointing.

Yes, it angered me that it’s been designed for the people who paid the most. I mean, I paid £17 but couldn’t see anything that happened downstage left at all, because the set had been built out into what would be the pit.

I didn’t detest it, but I didn’t like it. It just annoyed me. I thought it was dated as a show, but had some cracking numbers in. Cassidy Janson is the star by a clear mile - although it’s criminal she doesn’t get to reprise Anthem anymore at the end just to show how good she is. Burke was terrible, Ball can sing but can’t act (ending anthem with virtually Evita arms was just cringe) and Tim Howar was alright.

Orchestra were fantastic, and the wall of sound from the ensemble was thrilling. However, couldn’t hear a bloody word anyone sang most of the Time - such terrible sound design in the balcony.

I’m not massively ashamed to say I did shell out £150 to sit in the middle of the middle row of the stalls. I don’t get to the theatre as much since moving away from London and I do really love Chess... I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since the Albert Hall concert, which I thought was pretty poor outside of Josh Groban.

The lyrics are too clever and wordy (so of course the sound design can’t cope - Matilda has the same problem) and the show remains a cracking concept in search of a satisfyingly developed plot. I don’t know how dated I feel it is, but then I was reared on 80s megamusicals and still think this has one of the best scores of the lot.

I really liked the set concept, with a “mirror” caveat to that of people sat elsewhere. undoubtedly the video screens were helpful for people elsewhere with terrible sightlines - for me, they totally pulled my focus away from what was on stage and overwhelmed the blocking; Mountain Duet’s entertaining staging was ruined by the constant cutting back and forth between Florence and Anatoly, and it’s telling that the conceit was jettisoned for Endgame/You And I.

The orchestra was absolutely glorious, and I was enormously relieved that they jettisoned the horrific country-and-western orchestration for Someone Else’s Story they used in the Albert Hall version; this version actually sounded like it belonged in the show. John Rigby and co probably got the biggest applause of the afternoon.

As for performances, my take:

Ball - Anatoly is a “gimme” role - the songs sing themselves. I actually thought he did a better job acting than I perhaps expected; I’ve never really got the sense that chess mattered so much to the Russian as it did here (the British version of Endgame where Anatoly wins is vastly superior to the American one). He seemed a bit flat at a couple of points in the first act, strangely.

Howar - great. One of my favourite renditions of Pity The Child; less a “pity party”, more a rallying cry to transcend the continued suck that is his life.

Janson - superb. DEFINITELY my favourite rendition of, curiously, Heaven Help My Heart, which is one of those “nice but ehhhh” songs normally. Anyone else familiar with the video of the Actor’s Fund concert might have detected a touch of the Julia Murney performance in her Nobody’s Side (without the terrible screaming). I did feel, more than ever, that the show was less about her and more about Anatoly, which isn’t always the case.

Burke - urk. At her best when spitting words at high speed; at her worst when alone on stage. She can sing her face off, sure, but Someone Else’s Story and He Is A Man, He Is A Child are not “park and bark” beltfests - even the direction in this production makes that clear. A shame to ruin both one of the best songs in the score AND the “new” one with little acting (which was strange, as she delivered her few lines just fine).

I didn’t know the actors playing Molokov (a bit much in the first act, superb in the second) and the Arbiter (annoyingly over-melismatic). The ensemble were great; The Soviet Machine (usually boring filler in my head) was an absolute highlight, and I thought the variety of things they had to do was really impressive.

The only real downer on the performance for me was Burke, who is clearly a very talented singer but just a poor fit for the material.

We have seen it this afternoon from Row P of the stalls. Superb view, sound crystal clear most of the time. Cost £80 as opposed to £150 a couple of rows forward and we were very happy.

I absolutely loved it - I wanted it to sound good and with that orchestra, chorus and score it sounded magnificent. I really liked the staging, I only missed the revolving chess board during “the deal”, I remember the original version where all the characters moved around the board like chess pieces and I missed that, but otherwise it looked great. As for all the criticism about the lederhosen, it was obvious they were a “national dress welcoming party”, Merano is one of the lighter songs in the show and the staging reflected that. Yes, the book is flawed, but I went in knowing that, and the performances were superb. Stand outs for me were Michael Ball who absolutely smashed Anthem and actually acted - nice to be reminded that he can. Loved Cassidy Janson and Tim Howar, although I found it a bit disconcerting in his opening scene where he looked exactly like Harry Enfield in Smashie and Nicie mode...., Thought overall Alexandra Burke did really well, too many long vowel noises during “he is a man” but she redeemed herself in IKHSW and totally redeemed herself in endgame. Loved the set, the videos were pretty much in synch all the way through.

Overall, I booked for this because with a full orchestra and choir I wanted it to sound amazing, and for that reason for me I think this is as good as Chess is going to get.

That's because lots of the Michael Ball online fan club were in today! Seriously.

Some even had Michael t shirts and masks!



As for the query about drinks, nobody was allowed to bring water in for today's matinee. We had to tip it out in the street then refill from jugs at the bar. Pretty ridiculous.