female Arbiter in Chess

[Harpz2006]

Posted: 1/18/17 at 5:29pm

I'm not too familiar with the show other than the songs that have become pretty standard from it ('Nobody's Side,' etc.) but a female friend just got offered the Arbiter in a local production. Do you think this character would work as a female, and is it a memorable/great role? Literally asking for a friend:). Thanks!!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/18/17 at 5:41pm

A female Arbiter would work just fine.  The Arbiter only sings a featured/solo part in a couple of songs in the first act.  The rest is ensemble work.  But the Opening Ceremony number really has lots of potential to be quite memorable.

[hork]

Posted: 1/18/17 at 6:21pm

Never thought about it, but there's no absolutely no reason why the arbiter needs to be male.

[aimeric]

Posted: 1/18/17 at 7:48pm

I actually just saw a female Arbiter in a regional production last year, and it worked just fine.  As a matter of fact, she was pretty memorable, because she was portrayed kinda as a sexy "woman in charge," almost a bit of a dominatrix in a suit (of course, whether or not the Arbiter is really much in charge of the game proceedings is debatable, but she sure tried to sell herself as "the boss," lol ). 

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 1/18/17 at 9:53pm

Yes, it would definitely work! I was just thinking about whether the role has been played by a female before. It obviously isn't the biggest role in the show, but there are a few memorable standout moments (it varies on which version of the show is being used), especially the segment during the Opening Ceremony. 

Posted: 1/19/17 at 9:00am

Harpz2006 said: "I'm not too familiar with the show other than the songs that have become pretty standard from it ('Nobody's Side,' etc.) but a female friend just got offered the Arbiter in a local production. Do you think this character would work as a female, and is it a memorable/great role? Literally asking for a friend:). Thanks!!

 

Where is this production playing?

 

"

 

[aimeric]

Posted: 1/19/17 at 4:53pm

Also, I just have to thank this thread for reminding me that this exists....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OutDgLmx-SQ

 

Not quite as campy as the music video for "One Night in Bangkok," but hey, not much is.  Your friend may not be able to rock the bare-chested '80s leisure suit look, but if she can catwalk half as well as this dude, she'll be fine.  

 

Updated On: 1/19/17 at 04:53 PM

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 1/19/17 at 6:17pm

Yes!!! Thanks for sharing, aimeric. I love those Chess Moves music videos. Pure '80s cheese! XD 

[aimeric]

Posted: 1/19/17 at 7:05pm

Ahh, the '80s: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  Seriously, how awkward is Chess sometimes...yet why, why can I never purge those damned earworms from my brain...?  XD