CHESS Returns to Broadway: Everything You Need to Know About the Iconic Musical

Everybody's playing the game this fall! As BroadwayWorld reported earlier this week, Chess is coming back to Broadway for the first time since it premiered in 1988. The new Broadway revival, which has yet to announce its exact production timeline, will star Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele and Nicholas Christopher as Freddie Trumper, Florence Vassey and Anatoly Sergievsky, respectively.

It's been over three decades since a full production of the musical has been seen on a Broadway stage. While many of its songs have become beloved standards, the show's plot remains largely unknown to today's audiences. With months until performances begin, study up on everything you need to know about Chess. 

The Early Development of Chess

In the 1970s, lyricist Tim Rice, who was already known for his work on Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, became inspired to write a musical centered on the Cold War. While his frequent collaborator Andrew Lloyd Webber was busy working on his next project (Cats), Rice turned to Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, who were looking for creative projects outside of their mega-popular music group, ABBA.

Before the musical was produced, a concept album was released in 1984, followed by a concert production in London, then Hamburg, Amsterdam, Paris, and Stockholm. The album gained critical praise, earned several European awards, and was #1 for weeks on the charts in Sweden- home of Andersson and Ulvaeus.

Chess Onstage

Chess premiered in the West End at the Prince Edward Theatre in 1986. Michael Bennett was originally set to direct the show, but withdrew due to health complications (he later passed away in 1987). Trevor Nunn took over, directing Elaine Paige, Tommy Körberg and Murray Head, who all reprised their roles from the concept album. It went on the receive three Olivier Award nominations (Best Musical, Körberg, and Paige) and played for almost three years.

Chess opened on Broadway in 1988 and closed after only 68 regular performances. Starring David Carroll, Philip Casnoff, and Judy Kuhn, the production earned two Tony nominations for Kuhn and Carrrol.

What Is Chess About?

Chess is set during the Cold War and follows a high-stakes chess championship between two grandmasters — American (Freddie Trumper) and Soviet (Anatoly Sergievsky). Freddie, the brash American champion, travels to Merano, Italy, to defend his title against Anatoly, the disciplined Soviet player. Freddie’s second (and love interest), Florence, is caught between the two men, both romantically and politically. 

On the surface, Chess is about a chess championship, but symbolically it’s about Cold War politics, human relationships under pressure, and the cost of personal freedom. The chess match mirrors the larger geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., with the players becoming pawns in a much bigger political game.

The Music of Chess

Some of Chess' best known songs include "I Know Him So Well", "Pity the Child", "One Night in Bangkok", "Someone Else's Story", and "Anthem". Though it has been 36 years since Chess has been produced on Broadway, because of the show's now cult-favorite score, it has been seen far more frequently in concert and has been recorded on several albums. 

An Actors Fund benefit concert was presented in 2003 (starring Adam Pascal, Josh Groban, Sutton Foster and Julia Murney).

In addition to the original concept album, Chess was recorded live in concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 2008 (starring Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, Josh Groban, and Kerry Ellis)

The musical was presented at the Kennedy Center in 2018 (starring Raul Esparza, Ramin Karimloo, Karen Olivo, and Ruthie Ann Miles).

A 2022 Entertainment Community Fund benefit starred Lena Hall, Ramin Karimloo, Darren Criss, and Solea Pfeiffer.

Changes to Chess

Following its West End premiere, the creative team reworked the entire show to create a version intended for American audiences, including extensive revisions to both the plot and score. For Broadway alone, 5 new songs were added and 11 songs were omitted. Changes continued in subsequent productions (Ex: an 2002 Swedish production omitted 8 songs from the British production). The setting of each act (and prologue) has also varied extensively version to version. 

Benny Andersson told Variety: "The main difference between London and here is that in London there is only about two or three minutes of spoken dialog. Here, in order to clarify some points, it is almost one-third dialog".