Discover the latest Chess reviews on Broadway, highlighting its electrifying performances, stunning visuals, and timeless score. Explore why this long-loved, long-troubled musical is winning over audiences in its bold new revival.
Chess on Broadway: A Flawed Masterpiece Returns With Power, Personality, and a Score That Still Slays
When Chess first hit the cultural scene in the mid-1980s, it was unlike anything musical theater had heard before. A Cold War love triangle, power politics, psychological warfare, and a synth-driven pop-opera score created by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus—yes, the ABBA legends—were never an obvious recipe for a Broadway triumph. And yet, nearly four decades later, this wayward musical continues to fascinate audiences. Now, with its first-ever Broadway revival, Chess is back in the spotlight, reminding us why its music remains one of the great theatrical achievements of the last century.
A Musical With a History as Complicated as Its Plot
Tim Rice once described Chess as a “wayward child,” the kind of ambitious artistic creation that refuses to behave the way its creators want it to. And that’s not an exaggeration. The 1984 concept album was a smash, spinning off global hits like “One Night in Bangkok” and the emotionally devastating duet “I Know Him So Well.” When the musical opened in London in 1986, it enjoyed a lengthy run despite behind-the-scenes drama.
Its Broadway premiere in 1988, however, became one of theater’s most notorious misfires. A rewritten script, a heavier focus on dialogue, and major structural changes led to a two-month run and a lasting reputation: Chess was brilliant, beloved… and basically unfixable.
But if there’s one thing theater fans can agree on, it’s that the score is an absolute wall-to-wall powerhouse. And that is exactly what the new revival embraces.
Michael Mayer and Danny Strong Rebuild the Gameboard
Tony-winning director Michael Mayer and Emmy-winning writer Danny Strong approach Chess not as a puzzle that needs to be solved but as a grand theatrical event that should thrill, provoke, and entertain. Their revival leans into what Chess does best: big emotions, bigger vocals, and a story that is less about the rules of the board and more about the people trapped within its political machinery.
Nicholas Christopher delivers a knockout performance as Russian champion Anatoly Sergievsky. His rendition of “Anthem” brings the house down—an Act 1 finale so thunderous that even longtime fans will feel like they’re hearing the song for the first time. Aaron Tveit, playing the volatile American prodigy Freddie Trumper, unleashes raw, electric energy in “Pity the Child,” one of musical theater’s most fiendishly difficult solos. And Lea Michele, as Florence Vassy, commands the stage with a voice that can slice through the orchestra and a vulnerability that grounds the show’s emotional core.
A Libretto With Winks, Commentary, and a Bit Too Much Modern Humor
Strong’s rewritten book adds a meta-narrator: the Arbiter, played with heightened theatrical flair by Bryce Pinkham. This version of the character is omniscient, charming, and a little too eager to explain the absurdities of Cold War politics. At times, the wink-wink commentary works, embracing the musical’s inherent camp. At others, modern jokes—like references to RFK Jr. or Joe Biden—feel misplaced in a story set in the 1970s.
But these tonal swings don’t derail the show. If anything, they underline what Chess has always been: ambitious, messy, and shamelessly entertaining.
A Visual Feast That Brings the Cold War to Life
The revival’s design team elevates the spectacle with bold, striking choices. Lighting designer Kevin Adams floods the stage with deep blues and blazing reds, creating a visual tug-of-war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The 16-person ensemble moves with geometric precision under Lorin Latarro’s choreography, mirroring the motion of chess pieces maneuvering across a board.
Then there’s the number everyone walks out talking about: “One Night in Bangkok.” It’s transformed into a neon-drenched, acrobatic fever dream—sizzling, chaotic, and impossible to look away from. Aaron Tveit’s Risky Business-style moment in his skivvies will no doubt become one of the season’s most buzzed-about spectacles.
The Heart Behind the Strategy
While the show features only one visible chess match—staged cleverly with the competitors facing the audience and whispering their moves into microphones—the emotional stakes never dip. Because in Chess, the characters are the game pieces: Florence caught between two men and two nations, Anatoly torn between love and loyalty, Freddie haunted by abandonment and pressure.
Anatoly’s estranged wife, Svetlana (played by Hannah Cruz), adds further depth to the emotional gridlock. Even Florence’s big solo, “Someone Else’s Story,” though awkwardly placed in this production, remains hauntingly beautiful thanks to Michele’s powerhouse delivery.
A Flawed Masterpiece That May Finally Have Found Its Form
After four decades of revisions, cuts, rearrangements, and reimaginings, it’s fair to ask: Can Chess ever truly be “fixed”? Perhaps that’s the wrong question. The revival seems to recognize that the musical’s imperfections—its sprawling storyline, its tonal swings, its unapologetic theatricality—are part of its charm.
Like the Japanese art of kintsugi, which repairs broken pottery with gold, this production highlights the cracks rather than hiding them. The result is a musical that may still be flawed, but glitters anyway.
Chess has always been too bold, too emotional, and too musically huge to fit neatly into any box. This revival embraces that truth. And in doing so, it delivers the most thrilling, moving, and downright fun version of this long-misunderstood masterpiece Broadway has ever seen.
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