Today we are celebrating the unique history and standout score of cult 1980s mega-musical CHESS.
Talking Chess Black and white and red all over, the history of concept musical CHESS is as complex as the game itself, with players more than merely worthy of the theatrical equivalent of an international chess championship - which is ostensibly the story of the show itself. First presented as an elaborately produced concept album in 1984 based loosely on the life and career of wild American chess champion Bobby Fischer starring none other than musical theatre superstar Elaine Paige along with leading men Murray Head and Tommy Korberg, the searing, anomalous rock-based score for the show exploded with propulsive energy, overwhelming excitement, irreverent wit, sumptuous orchestrations and one of the most spectacular songstacks of any musical of the 1980s. Topping the charts around the world due to huge smash singles - the lovelorn female duet "I Know Him So Well" via Paige and Barbara Dickson and the Murray Head-led proto-rap performance piece of "One Night In Bangkok" - the next conceivable move for the estimable trio of creators of the concept album to make would be to help CHESS find its way onstage. But, who to helm this monster mega-musical? Enter Michael Bennett, king of A CHORUS LINE and DREAMGIRLS and coming off a hot streak - but, also, secretly dying of AIDS. While rehearsals were beginning and sets were already commissioned and being built - a video wall costing more than $1 million included - Bennett suddenly withdrew and left the entire production in the lurch. Who could save the day? Why, none other than mega-musical mastermind Trevor Nunn, who took a show almost completely cast by another director along with a visual design already in place and somehow managed to get the massive and technically complex musical on its feet in time for a West End debut in 1986, where it then ran successfully for three years.
Photo Credits: Dewynters, etc.
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