Chess

Hi all- my first post here, though I’ve been reading the board for a while. I had some leave from work last week and flew from Dublin to see some shows in the West End; hoping to get around to posting about each one. I actually saw Chess twice as I love the score and got a bit excited when it was announced initially. It’s had a mixed reception here and elsewhere but I really, really enjoyed it. The show is far from perfect but there are some superb moments which, for me at least, made it all very worthwhile.


What works:

The score as played by the orchestra and performed by the cast and ENO chorus is just glorious. I had goose bumps more than a few times; it just sounded incredible. I thought all of the leads were very good. Michael Ball isn’t the best actor but he does have a fantastic voice and sings the role pretty faultlessly. Cassidy Janson is an excellent actress and for the most part sings the role really well. She maybe could have had a little more impact during ‘Nobody’s Side.’ She was likeable throughout and I loved her emotion during ‘You and I.’ I also enjoyed Cedric Neal as the Arbiter. He’s quite an energetic and charismatic guy and he sang the role with ease. Philip Browne was also impressive as Molokov. Tim Howar did a superb job with ‘Pity the Child’ in Act II.


Alexandra Burke really impressed me as Svetlana. She has incredible power in her voice but I thought she performed ‘Someone Else’s Story’ and ‘He’s a Man, He’s a Child’ really beautifully. I wasn’t blown away by the duet with Cassidy, but I thought she was incredible in ‘Endgame’- it’s such a gorgeous, thrilling piece of music and she was very strong throughout. I disagree with those who say she cannot act or her voice is unsuitable for musical theatre- for me, she performed with plenty of emotion, conviction and restraint when needed. She’s also quite charismatic and I thought she commanded a real presence when onstage. My only criticism is that her diction is not always perfect and I struggled to make out a small number of lyrics. I am sure she will be cast in more ‘serious’ pieces from now on as I thought she did a great job. I wonder if some here can’t see past her X Factor roots.


The ensemble was a lot of fun and a super talented bunch. I liked the choreography and for the most part, the staging. As I said before the orchestra was just gorgeous. 

What doesn’t work:


The story isn’t particularly compelling and the book, despite the endless tinkering, flounders in parts. I suspect that the some of the stereotypical characterisations used in the story could border on offensive for some. I wasn’t a huge fan of the giant screens projecting the live performance as I thought it cheapened the experience a little. I was sat in Row D in the Stalls and I just found it distracting. I much preferred looking at the actual actors as they performed rather than the giant sized versions. It’s quite a camp/ melodramatic piece and I can see why it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

All in all, despite some misgivings, I thought it was a wonderful night’s entertainment. For me, the score and performances make up for any shortcomings in the book and the minor quibbles with the staging. I really felt privileged to hear the score in that context and I thought the performances were really excellent for the most part. It’s a shame that it’s such a short run. A cast recording would be lovely but I suspect it might be too late for that.
It would also be nice to see it tour. 

If you can grab a ticket before it closes on Saturday, I’d highly recommend seeing it!

Ha, thank you for the welcome. 

You should definitely make sure you can make some money out of those comedic talents! 

Great to hear another positive review anthem . I’ve only seen Chess once before (CRH) and compared with that I thought the story was totally cohesive. I think the whole “book” issue with Chess seems to hav3 become a self fulfilling prophecy.  I’ve seen many musicals where the book was less satisfying than this and little comment is ever passed.

I thought the huge screens were an inspirational choice for this venue. It was like watching a musical in IMAX. Yes you could be distracted if you CHOSE to look at them instead of the actors and from the front row i even looked at them myself a few times. I suspect they were very much appreciated from some of the highest seats. If they hadn’t done the video, with this design, people would hav3 complained at not seeing the action.

I think if people can’t just listen to a beautiful piece of music played by an amazing orchestra while the actors re-enact a chess game for perfectly valid dramatic reasons for literally 2 minutes then that’s a shame. Go see Motown, it will be more to their taste (and attention span) 🙂

See, I was someone ho didn't appreciate the reenacting of a chess match. And I'm a fan of quieter moments, of the power of stillness and suspense. And I think that's one of the most powerful pieces of music in the whole piece. But my problem was HOW they did it, it could've had so much more suspense, tensions in their body shown in minute movements, but for me they took it as a bit of a sit down and I felt nothing from the two of them.

To criticise that scene doesn't mean you haven't enjoyed listening to the piece as it was played, it was stunning, but that doesn't mean what they were doing on stage was engaging.

How very condescending. People on an opinion board in having differing opinions shocker; no need for the tone.

That too.

Saw this last night and loved it. What a glorious sound the cast and Orchestra made. It helped that the nice man in the box office upgraded our £15 balcony ticket to a £105 dress circle ticket for £10 each, classing them as £25 day tickets. Had a great view and what a great production it was. They have really put a lot into a 5 week run. Met the cast afterwards and they were all lovely and obliging .If you get the chance in the last few days go and see it.

I’ve just left too, and wow... what a show.

Yes it deserved the standing ovation it got last night and I'm sure most nights.

Bit to late to the part but I caught this on Tuesday night last week.

Don't forget readers, I grew up in Australia so alas, never got to see to original production at the Prince Edward Theatre production. But, I have been listening to the original concept album since it was released so know every song.

Also, at the time (I was still at school) Tim Rice did a promotional tour with Elaine Paige and Tommy Korberg at the Royal Opera House that I went to. So it's fair that I'm superman of this show. Not to mention the ABBA connection.

I caught the Royal Albert Hall production however this was a concert and incidentally the first time I'd hear the song The Soviet Machine. So imagine my delight at the prospect of seeing a full staged production.

My Uncle and Aunt were visiting from Australia so I went with them- one of the reasons for my delay in posting this review.

They knew nothing about this musical. My Uncle Know I Know Him So Well and One Night in Bangkok. My Aunt vaguely knew of I Know Him So Well. In fact my Uncle confessed that despite being aware of the musical, he's actually avoided it at all costs because he was never an ABBA fan. (What! How can this be? I mean drive a stake though my heart! But that's another story).

Needless to say I loved it! As did they! In fact when he gets back to Australia my Uncle wants to send me MP3 versions of the songs.

Costumes and staging were great.And those screens! It was particularly clever the way that the plane arrived and Freddie arrived and asked down the steps.

For me the staging of all songs worked except the Mountain Duet, primarily because of the ensemble. They were kind of distracting.

But I found the whole thing epic and awesome! The chorus and a lot of the story worked.

Not too sure about He's a Man, He's a Child. and for me the storyline regarding Florence and her father is flawed and required a bit more work, but other than that, wow!

Mr Ball is looking (somewhat) chunky but you can always count on him to belt out a tune.

I had read somewhere that You and I had been cut from this product, so I was so pleased and rather pleasantly surprised that it performed.

Choreography was sufficient, effective but not too complex.

And how pleased was I that The Argument from the concept album that is generally cut from most productions was included.

So incredibly pleased that I got to see this and take advantage of the £25 day seat offer.

I actually walked away feeling not only blessed for my appreciation of musicals in such a grand, beautiful theatre and that Mr Anderson, Uvaleas and Rice have found their niche in life.

Nobody on Nobody's Side....

Another late one to the party here - I watched this for the first time a couple of weekends ago and managed to grab a TodayTix rush ticket in the Dress Circle - great view in row J by the way (I think we were seats 3-4). I suppose I was a little apprehensive about seeing the show for the first time considering I love the music and many moons ago was in an amateur production (for my sins) however like most, I was never keen on the book.

Thankfully for me this production ticked all the boxes and I think fixes near enough everything that I used to think was wrong with the show and the slightly clunky book, the set design with the video projections, I thought worked extremely well and were perfectly integrated into so many parts of the show like the plane de-boarding for Freddie's entrance, and the Arbiter introductions/welcome speeches. The epic sound from the orchestra was phenomenal and I had several goosebump moments, especially when the ENO chorus featured. Anthem and Endgame were two really strong highlights for the orchestra and chorus. It was like a wall of sound hitting us that I've not heard before in a live setting. Regarding the sound, from the Dress Circle I had no issues or complaints. Good volume level, there are times when a few lyrics get lost but I think purely because of how lyrical some of the songs are.

Casting - Michael Ball, perfect really, I'm not always a huge fan of this man, but the last few shows I've seen him in (Hairspray, Sweeney Todd) I've been very impressed at his vocal and acting ability. Thankfully there's no ham in his performance and his Anthem really is the show-stopping end for Act 1. Cassidy was excellent, although it felt like she warmed into the matinee performance I saw as her voice seemed ever so slightly tired for the first few numbers, but she balanced Alexandra perfectly for I Know Him So Well (excellent staging of this song by the way). At first I wasn't keen on the new song as it seemed a bit safe and boring, but Alexandra quickly starts giving it some belt action and I quickly changed my mind on the new opening for Act 2 - I felt like she gave a fantastic performance and really showed the emotion in her singing. Tim Howar's performance of Pity The Child really resonated with me and I felt every bit of passion and emotion he sang in every word and detail. Extremely impressed with him, the American is a very hard role to sing but his rocky edged voice worked well with the style.

I throughly enjoyed the chess matches. The video projections along with the speed and intensity as the music heightens really worked and I found myself getting quite worked up and tense, the music in the chess matches really is superb and played so exquisitely. There's so much light and dark in the music that really helped add to the tension during both matches. I think this was another part where the screens really helped the production. Lots of little touches with the set design and lighting, to show for example Freddie's hotel room without not a lot changing on stage. It felt like it had the right level of 80s feel and nostalgia to the show too.

I saw this with my wife who wouldn't have previously called herself a fan of Chess at all, but she also fell in love with this production and mentioned how if felt like the story just made so much more sense. We both said how it was one of the best shows we've ever seen, period.

There were some sections of the show that suddenly became far more coherent and better explained the story (opening now featuring Anatoly leaving his family) instead of the Arbiter introduction all the characters, lots of moments seemed to be interpreted in a slightly different way giving a different slant/angle like the Mountain Duet and I Know Him So Well, again all helping to make the story clearer. Even having been in the show I felt like I was learning new parts to the story.

Thanks to anthem for the tip about Benny's Piano album - I'm listening to it as I type this.

I might have to see if I can get down on Saturday to see it once more before it closes.